Director Carl Rinsch was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for scamming Netflix out of millions.
Nearly seven months after he was found guilty of defrauding the streamer of $11 million for his never-completed sci-fi series “White Horse,” Judge Jed Rakoff handed down the ruling Monday in New York City. Rinsch was previously convicted of fraud and money laundering in December. The judge said it was clear the director never intended to finish the series for Netflix but instead sought to “cover it up through money laundering and lies.”
While Rinsch was sentenced to two and a half years for his crimes, prosecutors had sought twice that. Jay Clayton, a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, pushed for a five-year sentence for the director.
“Carl Erik Rinsch orchestrated a scheme to steal millions by seeking $11 million from a subscription streaming service, falsely claiming that money would be used to finance a television show that he was creating,” Clayton said.
He added: “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. Today’s sentence sends a deterrent message: fraud will not be tolerated.”
Former Netflix Vice President of Content Cindy Holland initially acquired “White Horse,” later retitled “Conquest,” from Amazon in 2018 for more than $61 million. After using $44 million of the streamer’s budget, Rinsch did not have a final product to show for it and demanded an additional $11 million for pre- and post-production needs to complete the series.
According to prosecutors in December, Rinsch gambled millions on Gilead, a pharmaceutical company he believed could produce a COVID cure. He also went on a spending spree, buying luxury cars, antique furniture and high-end mattresses. Rinsch testified that his purchases were entirely legitimate and that the luxury vehicles, including Rolls-Royces, were needed for his show.
Rinsch’s legal team went so far as to call on Keanu Reeves – who starred in the director’s film “47 Ronin” – to help make a plea on his behalf. A letter submitted by the actor’s legal team called for “leniency and mercy” when it came to the sentencing.
“I am writing in support of Carl Rinsch in connection with his upcoming sentencing,” Reeves wrote at the time. “I do not know the details of this case. But based upon what I do know about Carl, I did want to take the opportunity to write on his behalf, in the hope that this sentence might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy, as well as justice.”
He added: “In my opinion, Carl can self-sabotage by amplifying the scale, scope and landscape of what had been negotiated, accordingly placing himself and his counterparties at odds. I do not intend to share this as an excuse or diminishment of what he has been found to have done, but offer this solely as perhaps an insight into why.”
Representatives for Rinsch did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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