Director and screenwriter Carl Rinsch faces a maximum sentence of 90 years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding Netflix out of $11 million (€9.4 million). After a week-long trial in New York, a popular jury concluded that the 48-year-old filmmaker had requested a significant investment from the platform to finance a series that was never broadcast and that he then spent the money on personal investments. The delivery of the judgment specifying the sentence handed down against Rinsch is scheduled for April 17, according to media reports. Variety.
Rinsch—known for directing The Legend of the Samurai: 47 Ronin (2013), The gift (2010) and The quiz (1994) – denied the charges against him and of which he was found guilty. The charges against him related to wire fraud, money laundering and illegal monetary transactions. The director, arrested in California last March, assured yesterday in Manhattan federal court that it was a “misunderstanding”, according to the American magazine.
The filmmaker said he had finished filming the first season of the series, titled white horsebut he needed money for the pre-production of the second season. However, Netflix claims it never commissioned Rinsch for a second season and that the first was “far” from being finished.
Netflix initially paid around $44 million to buy the still-unfinished series, and between late 2019 and early 2020, the director demanded more money from the company, which ultimately agreed to pay an additional $11 million. According to prosecutors, Rinsch transferred the money to different bank accounts before consolidating it into a personal account, then made a series of personal and speculative securities purchases.
Since then, Rinsch has spent around 10 million euros paying lawyers for his divorce, buying a Ferrari and five Rolls-Royces or a stay at the Four Seasons hotel, among other things, according to authorities. Instead, the convict declared that his purchases were legitimate and that, for example, the Rolls-Royces were necessary for the production of the series, the weekly reports. Variety.
At that time, covid-19 was beginning to spread across the world. According to the prosecution, the filmmaker had bet millions on Gilead, a pharmaceutical company that he believed could cure the disease, which ultimately caused him heavy losses. Rinsch’s lawyer argued that the luxury purchases were a distraction and had “nothing to do” with the case.
Over the course of a week, former Netflix executives testified as current head of streaming from Paramount, Cindy Holland or Peter Friedlander, who is currently head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios. Both acquired the rights to white horseaccording to the magazine The Hollywood Reporter.
About The Author
