Sci-fi director defrauds Netflix out of $11 million

Carl Erik Rinsch, best known for directing critical flop 47 Ronin, was arrested this week and charged with defrauding Netflix out of millions of dollars over a sci-fi show he was hired to direct, but never completed.

How it went down: In 2018, Rinsch signed a deal with Netflix for a new series called White Horse (later renamed to Conquest) with a production budget of $44 million. Two years later, after burning through the money, Rinsch requested an additional $11 million to finish production, to which Netflix obliged.

• But instead of finishing the series, Rinsch allegedly transferred the funds to his personal brokerage account – where he promptly lost ~$5.5 million on risky trades before seeing a windfall from crypto.
• Rinsch then went on a Wolf of Wall Street-level spending spree, racking up total charges of ~$10 million on luxury items and personal expenses (including $638,000 for two mattresses and $295,000 for bedding and linens).

In the end, it all came crashing down. Throughout Rinch’s spending spree, the director told Netflix that his show was “awesome and moving forward really well,” per the indictment. But he never ended up producing any episodes, forcing Netflix to write off the entire $55 million it spent.

Looking ahead…Rinsch faces an upcoming trial in New York that could result in a prison sentence of 20+ years, if found guilty.