Feds Indict ‘47 Ronin’ Director Who Scammed Netflix Out Of Millions For Never-Made TV Series

deadline.com:

Federal prosecutors have indicted Carl Rinsch for allegedly ripping off Netflix for $11 million for a long promised sci-fi series that was never made.

In a case with Keanu Reeves cameos, some bad crypto deals, a pledge to be able to control lightening, five Rolls-Royces and a scathing portrait of an industry drunk on its own content needs, the 47 Ronin director is looking at likely the rest of his life behind bars if found guilty. “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 Tuesday of Netflix a.k.a “Streaming Company-1” in the 12-page indictment, as the indictment was made pubic. “The FBI will continue to reel in any individual who seeks to defraud businesses.” Arrested today in L.A., the 47-year-old Rinsch is “charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison,” according to the U.S.

Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. In ways that seem almost impossible to imagine in this era of leaner budgets, more streamlined needs and less production overall, Rinsch’s alleged conduct and crimes would make a pretty good six-episode series on a streamer, or a Netflix True Crime documentary.

After burning through $44 million of the streamer’s cash for ‘White Horse’ and holding final-cut power, Rinsch demanded another $11