Carl Rinsch faces up to 90 years in prison for embezzling $11 million from Netflix

Carl Rinsch, director of the acclaimed film “47 Ronin,” will be sentenced on April 17, 2026, for one of the largest frauds against Netflix in the entertainment industry. According to reports from Foresight News, the case has raised concerns in film production circles due to the systematic misappropriation of funds allocated for original series projects.

The Failed Project and the Request for Additional Funds

Netflix hired Carl Rinsch in 2018 to develop “Conquest” (originally titled “White Horse”), an ambitious science fiction series. Over two years, the streaming platform invested $44 million in the project through the director’s production company. In 2020, Carl Rinsch submitted a request for an additional $11 million to complete production, money that authorities say never reached post-production or the visual effects required by the series.

The Fraud Network: Fund Diversion and Speculation

Prosecutors discovered that Carl Rinsch had set up a sophisticated embezzlement scheme. The $11 million was redirected through multiple bank accounts before being consolidated into a personal securities account. Within two months, more than half of those funds were lost through speculative investments in stock markets.

Subsequently, Rinsch shifted his speculation strategy to cryptocurrencies. In addition to losses from investments, he used the misappropriated funds to purchase luxury items and cover personal expenses, while the Netflix project remained stalled without production resources.

Multiple Charges and Expected Sentence

The case against Carl Rinsch includes serious charges: wire fraud (up to 20 years), money laundering (up to 20 years), and five separate counts of using criminal proceeds (up to 10 years each). The accumulation of these sentences could result in a prison term of up to 90 years, an unusual precedent in corporate fraud cases within the film industry.

Carl Rinsch’s sentencing is scheduled for April 17, 2026, marking a turning point in how Netflix and other platforms will oversee production budgets with high-profile directors.