A New York jury has found Carl Rinsch guilty of scamming Netflix out of over $11 million for his never-completed sci-fi series “White Horse.”
The jury found him guilty on all counts Thursday. The writer-director faces a maximum sentence of 90 years behind bars but will likely receive a lesser sentence from Judge Jed Rakoff. Risnch was indicted by federal prosecutors for defrauding the streamer in March.
He was found guilty of one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and five counts of “engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity,” each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The 48-year-old director took the stand Tuesday, testifying on his own behalf, claiming the dispute was a misunderstanding and that he completed principal photography on the first season of the show and needed the money for pre-production on Season 2. However, Netflix never ordered a second season of the show and maintained that the first season was far from complete.
Prosecutors argued Wednesday that Rinsch deliberately concealed his motives for obtaining the money from Netflix. In their initial indictment, the prosecution claimed that Rinsch had knowingly “devised and intending to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses.”
Several Netflix executives testified during the one-week trial, including now Paramount streaming exec Cindy Holland and her colleague Peter Friedlander.
Holland initially acquired “White Horse,” later renamed Conquest, from Amazon in 2018 for over $61 million. After using $44 million of the streamer’s budget, Rinsch did not have a final product to show for and demanded an additional $11 million for pre-and post-production needs to complete the series.
According to the prosecution, Rinsch gambled millions on Gilead, a pharmaceutical company he believed could cure COVID-19. He also went on a spending spree, buying luxury cars, antique furniture and high-end mattresses. Rinsch testified that his purchases were entirely legitimate, and that the luxury vehicles, like the Rolls-Royces, were needed for his show.
Netflix ultimately took a write-off of $55 million for the unfinished production. The streamer and Rinsch went into arbitration over expenses related to the production, and in 2024 the arbitrator ruled that Rinsch owed the company $12 million, for his luxury expenses and personal investments spent on the company’s dime.
