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American filmmaker Carl Rinsch has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for defrauding Netflix of $11 million intended for a science fiction television series, United States prosecutors announced on Monday.
Rinsch, best known for directing the 2013 film 47 Ronin, was convicted last year after prosecutors said he diverted funds Netflix paid in 2020 for the production of a sci-fi series originally titled White Horse.
According to the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, in a statement, Rinsch failed to use the money for the project and instead invested it in high-risk stock options and cryptocurrency before spending millions on luxury items.
“Instead of using the money to make the show, Rinsch made risky bets on highly speculative stock options and cryptocurrency, and spent millions of dollars on luxury goods for himself,” Clayton said in a statement.
Prosecutors said his purchases included designer clothing, expensive furniture, a Ferrari and five Rolls-Royce vehicles.
In addition to the prison sentence, the 48-year-old was ordered to forfeit the $11 million.
His legal team had sought a lighter sentence, arguing that the financial misconduct occurred during a period of intense professional pressure and an “incredibly contentious divorce.”
Although prosecutors did not identify the streaming platform by name, the case stems from a long-running dispute between Rinsch and Netflix over the unfinished series, later renamed Conquest.
Court documents described the planned show as centring on a scientist who creates powerful clones exiled to a walled district in a Brazilian city, where they develop advanced technology and eventually clash with humans and one another.
Ahead of sentencing, actor Keanu Reeves, who starred in 47 Ronin, urged the court to show leniency, describing Rinsch as an exceptional artist whose greatest challenge was a tendency toward self-destructive behaviour.
