{"id":125363,"date":"2025-03-19T05:25:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T05:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=125363"},"modified":"2025-03-19T05:25:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T05:25:05","slug":"feds-charge-filmmaker-with-stealing-11m-from-netflix-to-gamble-on-crypto-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=125363","title":{"rendered":"Feds charge filmmaker with stealing $11M from Netflix to gamble on crypto, stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsUS federal authorities have arrested and indicted a filmmaker, accusing him of spending $11 million given by Netflix to gamble on stocks and crypto instead of using it to finance a science fiction TV show.
\nThe Department of Justice said in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan federal court on March 18 that it had charged Carl Erik Rinsch with fraud and money laundering, and he could face upward of 20 years in prison.
\nThe DOJ alleged that Netflix, which wasn\u2019t named in the complaint, gave Rinsch $11 million in March 2020 to finance the storyboarding, pay actors and edit footage for the sci-fi TV show \u201cWhite Horse\u201d \u2014 later renamed \u201cConquest.\u201d
\nInstead, prosecutors allege that Rinsch moved about $10.5 million of the funds into a brokerage account where he \u201cmade a number of extremely risky\u201d trades, including call options on a biopharmaceutical company, which lost him over $5.5 million.
\nRinsch was losing Netflix\u2019s money while assuring the streaming giant that Conquest was \u201cmoving forward really well,\u201d according to the indictment.
\nProsecutors said that the Los Angeles filmmaker had better luck with crypto, making several million dollars trading cryptocurrency in February 2021, which he used to purchase nearly $3.8 million worth of furniture and antiques, five Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, watches and luxury clothing items worth over $3 million.
\nExcerpt of the DOJ\u2019s lawsuit filed against Carl Erik Rinsch. Source: DOJThe US Attorney\u2019s Office didn\u2019t cite Netflix as the streaming company behind Conquest in the indictment, but The New York Times reported on Netflix\u2019s dispute with Rinsch over Conquest in November 2023, where it said Netflix canceled the show in early 2021 after Rinsch\u2019s behavior turned \u201cerratic.\u201d
\nThe Times reported that Netflix paid Rinsch $55 million, while prosecutors alleged he received $44 million to produce the show, which is yet to air.
\nUS prosecutors also accused Rinsch of spending nearly $1.8 million on credit card bills and $1 million in legal fees to sue Netflix for even more money and to cover costs related to his divorce.
\nRelated: Microsoft warns of new remote access trojan targeting crypto wallets
\nRinsch was charged with one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering and five counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
\nThe fraud and money laundering charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, while each of the monetary transactions charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
\nRinsch was arrested on March 18, and his case was assigned to New York federal court Judge Jed Rakoff.
\nThe Associated Press reported on March 18 that Rinsch\u2019s lawyer, Annie Carney, declined to comment outside court.
\nMagazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick \u2014 \u2018The ambulance chaser of crypto\u2019Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsUS federal authorities have arrested and indicted a filmmaker, accusing him of spending $11 million given by Netflix to gamble on stocks and crypto instead of using it… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125363"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}