According to Decrypt, Carl Rinsch, the director of the 2013 Keanu Reeves film "47 Ronins," was arrested on Tuesday in West Hollywood and charged with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly misappropriating $11 million from a "well-known streaming platform," which multiple reports claim is Netflix.
Prosecutors claim that Rinsch requested additional funds from a streaming service company in 2020 to complete his science fiction series "White Horse," but transferred the money to a personal account and began securities trading; Before requesting additional funding, his production company had already received a payment of $44 million; By late April 2020, he had lost over half of his funds through high-risk investments, including "highly speculative options and cryptocurrency trading," as well as an ETF tracking the S&P 500 index. The indictment alleges that Rinsch also used these funds to "speculate on cryptocurrencies - which ultimately proved to be profitable. According to the indictment, Rinsch is suspected of using these proceeds to spend $2.4 million on five Rolls Royces and one Ferrari, $3.7 million on furniture and antiques, $652000 on watches and clothing, $638000 on two mattresses, and $295000 on luxury bedding and linen products. Rinsch never delivered the completed TV series to Netflix, and despite completing the "six episode short film," he never returned the money.
If convicted of wire fraud, Lynch may face up to 20 years in prison. The crime of money laundering may also result in an additional sentence of up to 20 years in prison, while each of the five charges of engaging in currency transactions with criminal proceeds can result in a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. If all charges are proven, his total sentence may reach 90 years.
