Carl Erik Rinsch, known for directing the movie “47 Ronin,” was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering for misappropriating funds provided by Netflix for a science-fiction series, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York announced.
Summary
- Hollywood director Carl Erik Rinsch was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering for misusing Netflix funds.
- Prosecutors said Rinsch diverted the money into personal accounts and speculative trades—including Dogecoin—and luxury items.
- Rinsch faces up to 20 years per fraud and laundering count.
Rinsch was found guilty of one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors also secured convictions on five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for April 17, 2026.
According to the indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court on March 18, Rinsch reached an agreement with Netflix in 2018 to produce episodes of a science-fiction series. After spending the initial budget, the streaming service transferred additional funds in March 2020 to complete the project. The series was never finished, according to federal prosecutors.
Within days of receiving the additional funds, Rinsch transferred the money through multiple bank accounts and into a personal brokerage account, prosecutors said. The funds were then used to make speculative securities purchases, according to the announcement.
“His trading was unsuccessful, and within two months after receiving the additional funds, Rinsch had lost more than half of them,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
Prosecutors alleged that Rinsch spent a portion of the funds on stock options and cryptocurrency, including Dogecoin. Despite reportedly realizing a substantial profit on the Dogecoin investment, the funds were intended for production expenses, according to the indictment.
Rinsch also spent millions on luxury items, credit card bills, and additional cryptocurrency investments, prosecutors said.
Rinsch’s attorney argued that the verdict could set a precedent that would allow contractual and creative disputes between artists and financial backers to result in federal fraud charges.
