47 Ronan filmmaker Carl Erik Rinsch was arrested on March 18 in West Hollywood and indicted by the FBI for allegedly taking $11 million from Netflix for a sci-fi series that was never completed. Instead, the director delayed the project and spent the borrowed money on luxury cars and cryptocurrency. The filmmaker has been charged fraud and money laundering and could spend up to 20 years or more in jail, depending on the sentencing.
Here's all you need to know about the shocking arrest. Why was 47 Ronan Filmmaker arrested for defrauding Netflix? The lengthy court battle has been going on since a while. Rinsch went to Netflix with a sci-fi series originally called White Horse in January 2018.
With backing from actor Keanu Reeves, Netflix agreed to put in $44 million to acquire the series and produce the first season. In 2020, Rinsch asked for an extra $11 million from Netflix for the series for pre-and post-production expenses. The streamer, who still hadn't seen anything a year later, cancelled the project.
Netflix wrote off over $55 million for the sci-fi series, which was never completed. Last year, the streamer also won a $12 million arbitration ruling against the filmmaker, where he claimed that Netflix owed him $14 million instead. ALSO READ: Baby Reindeer Lawsuit: Netflix Exec Reiterates Series Is 'Drama, Not A Documentary' Where did the money go?White Horse, which was later called Conquest, was shot in Brazil in 2019 and went over budget.
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