Carl Erik Rinsch, the Hollywood director, was sentenced on Monday to two and a half years in jail for defrauding Netflix of $11 million.
The 48-year-old director, who made his feature directorial
debut with the 2013 film ’47 Ronin,’ was convicted of wire fraud and money
laundering in December 2025.
Prosecutors said Rinsch told Netflix he needed the
additional funding to complete a 12-episode series titled ‘White Horse’, later
renamed ‘Conquest’.
According to prosecutors, Netflix had already paid Rinsch
about $44 million for the series in 2018 and 2019 before providing another $11
million in 2020 after he claimed he needed more money to wrap up production.
However, he diverted the money into a personal account and
spent it on lavish purchases, including five Rolls-Royces, a red Ferrari,
$652,000 worth of watches and clothing, $638,000 on two mattresses, and another
$295,000 on luxury bedding and linens.
He also used some of the money to pay off about $1.8 million
in credit card bills.
Rinsch further invested part of the funds, losing about half
within a few months before putting the remainder into cryptocurrency. The
investment later became profitable, allowing him to transfer the proceeds into
his personal bank account.
Several Netflix executives who testified in court also said
the company had only commissioned one season of the series, which Rinsch never
delivered.
However, Rinsch’s lawyers argued that his actions were
influenced by mental health struggles and medication-related issues. The
director apologised in court and accepted responsibility for his crimes.
Jed S Rakoff, the US district judge, said Rinsch’s mental
health struggles “may explain some of the excesses” but do not “detract from
the court’s conclusion that he was determined to lie to get substantial monies
from Netflix and lie to cover it up”. He added that the director is due to
report to prison in September.
Daniel McGuinness, one of Rinsch’s attorneys, said they look
forward to appealing the case.
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