Hollywood director in charge of stealing $ 11 million from the transmission offer, the federals say

Federal prosecutors in New York accused Carl Erik Rinsch, a Hollywood director, of fraud, accusing him of badly using $ 11 million of an important transmission service that was intended to finance a science fiction television program.

Rinsch, 47, was arrested Tuesday at West Hollywood and was expected to appear in a federal court in Los Angeles before being transferred to New York. The prosecutors alleged that he took money for his show, “Horse White”, and instead spent him in luxury cars, high -end furniture, cryptocurrency trade and legal fees.

According to him accusationThe Transmission Service – reported For the New York Times, to be Netflix, Rinsch $ 44 million between 2018 and 2019 paid for the first time to produce the program. At the beginning of 2020, the transmission service agreed to pay another $ 11 million, and Rinsch claimed that the funds were necessary to complete the production, authorities said.

Instead of using money for the program, prosecutors said Rinsch moved the funds through personal bank accounts, put them in stock market bets and lost more than half in a matter of weeks. Then he supposedly used what was left to buy cryptocurrencies, benefiting from those trades and spending millions in personal luxuries.

Court documents showed that purchases included $ 2.4 million in luxury cars, including five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari, almost $ 4 million in furniture and antiques and $ 600,000 in mattresses and bedding. Supposedly, he also spent more than $ 1 million in legal fees, including an attempt to demand the transmission company for even more money, and covered stays in luxury hotels and purchases of designers, authorities said.

“As claimed, Carl Erik Rinsch orchestrated a scheme to steal millions requesting a great investment of a video transmission service, claiming that the money would be used to finance a television program that was creating,” said US prosecutor. Uu. Matthew Podolsky in a statement. “But that was fiction. Rinsch supposedly used funds on personal expenses and investments, including highly speculative options and cryptocurrency trade.”

The authorities said Rinsch faces an electronic fraud charge, a money laundering charge and five positions to participate in monetary transactions using criminal income. If he is convicted, he could face up to 90 years in prison, federal officials said.

Rinsch’s lawyer was not immediately available. Netflix did not immediately respond to comments requests.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division.