47 Ronin director Carl Erik Rinsch was convicted of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million stemming from a deal with the company to make a sci-fi series he never delivered.
A Manhattan jury returned the verdict and found the helmer guilty on all counts on Thursday, Business Insider reported from the court room.
Rinsch had spent funds earmarked for “White Horse” on risky securities trades, using profits from those investments to sue Netflix for further payments to finish the show and purchase luxury goods. In a federal court in Manhattan, a jury found him guilty of wire fraud, money laundering and multiple counts related to engaging in illegal monetary transactions.
Rinsch is expected to be sentenced to a lengthy prison term. He faced a maximum term of 90 years.
Around 2017, Rinsch began filming “White Horse,” which follows a scientist who invents a humanlike species that turn against their creators, according to the indictment. He completed six shortform episodes of the series using his own money and investments from various production companies, which were then used to pitch studios for funds to finish the first season. In 2020, Netflix sent Rinsch an additional $11 million in funds at his request to complete the series. It was meant to be used for various pre and postproduction projects, including paying crew and editing footage that had already been shot.
Instead, Rinsch transferred the money, wired to his production banner, to his personal brokerage account. In less than two months, he lost more than half of the funds on seven-figure options trades before spending the remainder on cryptocurrency. Rinsch proceeded to turn a profit, and a $10 million spending spree followed. He spent roughly $3.8 million on furniture and antiques, including nearly $1 million on two mattresses and linens, $2.4 million on five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari, and $650,000 on watches, among other things, according to the indictment.
The trial featured testimony from former Netflix executives, including Cindy Holland, now head of streaming at Paramount, and Peter Friedlander, now Amazon MGM Studios head of global TV, both of whom made the call to acquire White Horse. The jury was played a trailer for the series, which Friedlander called “visionary” at one point.
During the trial, Rinsch’s lawyers maintained the director was free to use the $11 million Netflix wired him as he pleased because it was his payment for finishing part of the series. They attempted to portray the case as a civil contract dispute rather than a criminal matter.
In 2020, Netflix wrote off “White Horse” as a loss.