Hollywood filmmaker Carl Rinsch was hired by Netflix to make a new science-fiction series. Instead, federal prosecutors say, he embezzled more than $11 million from the streaming giant and spent it on luxury cars and crypto.
Rinsch, known for the 2013 film "47 Ronin" starring Keanu Reeves, was indicted this week on charges of wire fraud and money laundering and could face decades in prison if convicted in connection with the alleged scam.
The indictment was filed in a federal court in New York and unsealed on Tuesday. The 47-year-old filmmaker was arrested the same day.
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"Carl Rinsch allegedly stole more than $11 million from a prominent streaming platform to finance lavish purchases and personal investments instead of completing a promised television series," FBI Assistant Director Leslie Backschies said in a statement.
Although Netflix is never named in the filing, Rinsch was previously reported to be in a dispute with the company over a planned series initially titled "White Horse" and later renamed "Conquest."
The indictment says the show was meant to focus on a scientist who created a group of powerful clones "banished to a walled area in a Brazilian city, where they began developing advanced technology and came into conflict with humans and each other."
It features still photos from "six short-form episodes" that were apparently completed by Rinsch to pitch the show. He ultimately entered into a deal with Netflix to create a full season of episodes.
That deal was reached "in or about 2018," the indictment says. Netflix then paid "approximately $44 million" for the show's production between 2018 and 2019, during the peak of the streaming boom.
Those funds were transferred to Rinsch's production company, and his request for an additional $11 million to purportedly finish the project was granted.
But Rinsch allegedly quickly transferred the money through a number of accounts for his own personal use.
Among the purchases Rinsch allegedly made were luxury clothing and furniture, a Ferrari and five Rolls-Royces, dodgy stock market buys, investing in cryptocurrency, and paying for lawyers to sue the streamer and handle his divorce.
"The FBI will continue to reel in any individual who seeks to defraud businesses," Backschies said.
Netflix declined to comment when contacted by AFP about the case.