US director found guilty in $11m Netflix drama case

Netflix was defrauded out of more than $11m (£8.2bn) for a sci-fi series that never made it onto screen, according to a ruling in US courts.

Director Carl Rinsch has been convicted on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making illegal transactions over the fate of White Horse, a drama that the 48-year-old had been producing.

The show was picked up by the streamer’s former content chief Cindy Holland in 2018 for more than $40m, according to US reports.

Two years later, Rinsch, who previously directed Keanu Reeves-starring 47 Ronin, asked for an additional $11m to complete the project, which had been renamed Conquest.

However, Netflix saw only a few clips of footage and pulled the project in 2021, writing off more than $55m in the process.

Rinsch claimed he had completed principal photography on the show and had pleaded not guilty to the charges, arguing the money he received had been to repay his own funding of the project and to prepare for a second season.

Netflix lawyers argued that the show was never completed and that a second season had not been commissioned. They added that the director had instead spent the money on stock market bets, watches and luxury cars.

Rinsch, who was arrested in March this year over the charges, claimed some of the purchases were for the show but the judge dismissed the claims.

Now the director is facing a prison term of up to 90 years - although a far shorter sentence is expected - after he was found guilty at a federal district court in Manhattan on Thursday. He will be sentenced on 17 April.

US attorney, Jay Clayton, said Rinsch had taken “$11m meant for a TV show and gambled it on speculative stock options and crypto transactions.

“Today’s conviction shows that when someone steals from investors, we will follow the money and hold them accountable,” he added.

Benjamin Zeman, Rinsch’s lawyer, told the New York Times via email that he believed the judgement was incorrect.

“I think the verdict was wrong and I fear that this could set a dangerous precedent for artists who become embroiled in contractual and creative disputes with their benefactors, in this case one of the largest media companies in the world, finding themselves indicted by the federal government for fraud.”

Broadcast International has contacted Netflix for comment.