Hollywood director Carl Rinsch sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for defrauding Netflix

Last year, a Hollywood director was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for defrauding Netflix of $11 million.

Carl Eric Rinsch has been accused of using Netflix money intended to complete a science fiction series to buy cars, cryptocurrency and other luxury items.

In the year The 48-year-old, best known for the 2013 film 47 Ronin, has been charged with federal fraud and money laundering.

Rinsch faced up to 90 years in prison, but was expected to receive a lighter sentence.

Judge Jay Rakoff also sentenced Rinsch to three years of supervised release, $11 million in restitution and a $700 fine.

Speaking to the court before the judge handed down his sentence, Rinsch apologized and accepted responsibility for his crime.

“Today’s sentence sends a message that fraud will not be tolerated,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Netflix paid them $55 million, including $11 million for an unfinished sci-fi show.

Instead, he invested the money in a personal account and lost half of it within two months, prosecutors said.

He invested the money in cryptocurrency and spent it on expensive purchases, such as Rolls Royce cars and mattresses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said.

During the week-long trial in New York, several Netflix executives were called to testify, agreeing to just one season of the show, which Rinsch failed to deliver.

Rinsch also took the stand — a rare move for a defendant in a criminal case — that the situation was a misunderstanding, and that he believed the money was meant to keep the show going during the pandemic.

New York Times reported, External Not long after signing the Netflix deal, Rinsch’s friends and colleagues noted that he had been on the rise.

The outlet reported that he believed he could predict lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions and knew about the “secret transmission mechanism” of covid-19.