Hollywood filmmaker charged with defrauding Netflix of $11 million

Hollywood filmmaker Carl Erik Rinsch has been charged with defrauding Netflix to the tune of $11 million. He had been working on a TV series for the streamer that was never completed. Instead, according to prosecutors, the 47-year-old director spent the streamer's funds to speculate on cryptocurrency, stay in high-end hotels and rentals and buy luxury cars.

Police in West Hollywood arrested him this week. The FBI's New York Field Office and the Acting U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York indicted Rinsch on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions. Those charges could land him in prison for decades.

The saga began in 2018, when Netflix agreed to pay Rinsch to make White Horse — later named Conquest — a science fiction TV series about an artificial, humanlike species called the "Organic Intelligent." The series was reportedly a passion project for Rinsch and his then-wife Gabriela Roses Bentancor, and was already underway. According to a 2023 New York Times investigation, the streamer gave Rinsch a coveted "final cut" deal to make decisions about the project. Before that, Rinsch had only made one big budget feature — 47 Ronin, a samurai story starring Keanu Reeves that bombed at the box office. 

Between 2018 and 2019, Netflix paid $44 million for the series. Rinsch resumed shooting episodes in Brazil, Uruguay and Budapest. Then, according to prosecutors, he asked the streamer for another $11 million to complete the production.

That never came to be.

The New York Times reported that during production, Rinsch's behavior grew more and more "erratic"; crew members complained about his onset behavior, and privately, his wife filed for divorce in 2020.

The FBI and the Acting U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York say that instead of completing the promised television series, Rinsch spent that extra $11 million on himself — speculating on securities and cryptocurrency and living the high life. FBI assistant director Leslie Backschies said in a statement that Rinsch used the money "to finance lavish purchases and personal investments." According to the indictment, which identifies Netflix as "Streaming Company-1," that included staying in luxury hotels, and buying millions of dollars worth of high-end furniture and antiques and hundreds of thousands in a watch and high-end clothing, along with five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari.

Even after losing money on the stock market, Rinsch told Netflix that his series was "awesome and moving forward really well," according to the indictment.

Though Rinsch claimed that the streamer owed him money after Netflix cancelled the show, an arbitrator ruled in Netflix's favor last year, requiring the director to pay the company $11.8 million. The streamer declined to comment to NPR about Rinsch. His attorney Anne Carney told NPR she can't discuss the case. According to the Associated Press, Rinsch appeared in federal court in Los Angeles with shackles on his arms and legs and agreed to post a $100,000 bond. The Associated Press reports that his attorney Carney said at that hearing that she had not yet seen the prosecution's evidence against Rinsch and "the allegations in this case are purely financial."
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