Director ‘blew $11 million on Netflix series for fancy cars, hotels’

A Netflix director has been accused of embezzling $11 million that was meant for a Sci-Fi series, spending it on divorce attorneys, luxurious hotels, cars, and antique furniture. The police arrested Carl Erik Rinsch, 47, in West Hollywood on Tuesday and charged him with fraud and money laundering. It is claimed that he conspired to defraud Netflix. Rinsch is said to have submitted a Sci-Fi series called White Horse (also called Conquest) to Netflix in 2018. He had already shot six episodes and a trailer with the help of his mentor, Keanu Reeves. Netflix agreed to invest $44 million to acquire the show and to produce the first season of the show and filming was to begin in 2019 in Kenya, Mexico, Romania, Berlin, Hungary and Uruguay. The problem started when Rinsch who was in Brazil to film the series asked for more money from Netflix, saying that he could only finish one episode although he had promised seven episodes. By December 2019, production in Hungary had ground to a halt. On March 15, 2020, Netflix wired Rinsch $11 million, the court records state.

The money was said to have been placed into personal accounts and invested poorly in the stock market, as stated in court documents. While telling Netflix that the production of White Horse is “awesome and moving forward really well,” Rinsch invested the last money provided for the project into cryptocurrency and made a fortune, which he transferred to his personal account, as the indictment says. The court documents contain the list of his expenditures: * $3 million on credit card bills, lawyers to sue Netflix, and divorce attorneys. * Extended stays at the Four Seasons and other similar places. * Almost $4 million on furniture and antiques. * $652,000 on watches and clothing. * $638,000 on mattresses. * $295,000 on high-end bedding. Furthermore, he is accused of spending $2.4 million on five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari.