'47 Ronin' director Carl Erik Rinsch sentenced to 30 months in prison for Netflix fraud case

Carl Erik Rinsch, the manager of the 2013 Keanu Reeves enactment movie “47 Ronin,” volition service much than 2 years successful national situation for defrauding Netflix of $11 million.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff connected Monday sentenced 48-year-old Rinsch to 30 months successful prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, announced. Federal prosecutors convicted Rinsch successful December of ligament fraud, wealth laundering and different counts. A ineligible typical for Rinsch did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors indicted Rinsch successful March 2025, alleging the $11 cardinal went into Rinsch’s idiosyncratic accounts. The filmmaker “quickly transferred” the wealth from the Rinsch Co. account, wherever it had been deposited March 6, 2020, by Netflix, done further accounts until astir $10.5 cardinal coiled up weeks aboriginal successful a idiosyncratic brokerage account. He mislaid much than fractional of that wealth successful little than 2 months via risky investments successful the banal market, the indictment said.

Though Rinsch told the streamer that his sci-fi amusement “White Horse” was progressing nicely, the filmmaker allegedly moved the remaining wealth into cryptocurrency and profited from crypto speculation implicit the adjacent mates of years. The streamer had invested astir $44 cardinal successful the show. Rinsch was accused of spending astir $10 cardinal connected 5 Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, watches, clothing, luxury bedding and linens, recognition paper bills, attorneys to writer Netflix for much money, and lawyers to enactment connected his divorce.

He was arrested successful West Hollywood and released the aforesaid time aft agreeing to station a $100,000 enslaved to warrant his quality successful a New York national court.

Rinsch ne'er finished the Netflix show.

During his sentencing, Rinsch and his ineligible squad told the tribunal his behaviour was a effect of intelligence wellness struggles and medicine problems and they are moving to code those issues with a caller attraction provider, the Associated Press reported.

“I failed to admit the information of the authorities I was in,” Rinsch said, though his intelligence issues were not described successful court, and his attorneys declined to supply further detail.

Ahead of the sentencing, Reeves — the prima of Rinsch’s astir notable task to day — penned a missive successful May requesting “leniency and mercy arsenic good arsenic justice” successful the filmmaker’s sentencing.

In summation to situation time, Rinsch indispensable service 3 years of supervised release, forfeit the $11 cardinal and wage $700 successful mandatory peculiar assessments, according to Monday’s announcement. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said successful the announcement: “Today’s condemnation sends a deterrent message: fraud volition not beryllium tolerated.”

The Associated Press and erstwhile Times adjunct exertion Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this report.