Director given $11 million from Netflix to complete Sci-Fi sequence spent the cash on vehicles and vintage furnishings, prosecutors say
A Netflix director has been accused of spending the $11 million he was given to complete a Sci-Fi series on divorce lawyers, luxury hotels, cars, and antique furniture.
Police arrested Carl Erik Rinsch, 47, in West Hollywood on Tuesday. He’s facing fraud and money laundering charges after prosecutors say he engaged in a scheme to defraud Netflix.
Rinsch pitched the Sci-Fi show, White Horse, to the streaming platform in 2018, court documents viewed by The Independent showed. He had already filmed six episodes and a trailer thanks to funding from his mentor, Keanu Reeves.
To acquire the show – also known as Conquest – from Rinsch and for production of the first season, Netflix agreed to invest $44 million. An initial 2019 filming schedule called for shoots in Kenya, Mexico, Romania, Berlin, Hungary and Uruguay.
Not long after Rinsch began filming in Brazil did exceeded his budget and asked Netflix for additional funding. He informed Netflix that he would only be able to finish one episode with the funding provided, despite his promise to deliver an additional seven episodes.
Production came to a halt in Hungary in December 2019.
In March 2020, Netflix sent Rinsch $11 million, according to court documents. But he allegedly quickly transferred those funds to personal accounts. Within two months, Rinsch lost “most of the $11 million through speculation on the stock market,” having made “extremely risky purchases,” according to court documents.
Meanwhile, Rinsch told Netflix that production on White Horse was “awesome and moving forward really well,” court documents stated.
The filmmaker then dumped the rest of the money into the cryptocurrency market, which proved to be a profitable move, with Rinsch eventually transferring the earnings into a personal bank account, according to an indictment.
The court documents detailed Rinsch’s spending spree, which allegedly included about $3 million on credit card bills, lawyers to sue Netflix, and attorneys related to his divorce.
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Rinsch also spent lavishly on a stay at the Four Seasons hotel and other luxury properties, according to the court documents. In addition, the director used nearly $4 million to purchase furniture and antiques, $652,000 on watches and clothing, $638,000 on mattresses, and another $295,000 on luxury bedding, according to the indictment.
Rinsch also allegedly bought five Rolls-Royces and one Ferrari for a total of about $2.4 million.
Production on White Horse was never completed, and Rinsch did not return the funds to Netflix. His indictment was filed in New York.
Netflix declined to comment when approached by The Independent.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
