Carl Erik Rinsch, director of the film 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves, has been charged with defrauding Netflix to buy cryptocurrencies and stocks.

Rinsch, a Hollywood director and screenwriter, was arrested and indicted on fraud charges tied to an $11 million agreement with Netflix for a science fiction TV series called “White Horse.”

Carl Erik Rinsch, the director best known for the film 2013's 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves, has been charged with defrauding streaming giant Netflix to buy cryptocurrencies and stocks.

Rinsch, a Hollywood screenwriter and director, was arrested and indicted on fraud charges linked to a $11 million agreement with the streaming service for a science fiction TV series titled “White Horse.”

The seven-count indictment, which was unsealed on Thursday, arises from a broader investment package of $44 million that Rinsch’s production company received from Netflix in 2018 to develop and produce the show.

As part of the agreement, the screenwriter was granted the right to a final installment of funds, not exceeding $11 million, to commence production of the first season of White Horse.

However, despite completing principal photography and nearly finishing post-production for the show’s first season in early 2020, Rinsch never applied for the installment.

Instead, the director obtained an early termination agreement with Netflix in March 2020, and the streaming service agreed to make an early installment of the remaining production funds to Rinsch’s company, Fresh Bread Productions.

According to the indictment, Rinsch’s company was wholly controlled by him, and he had complete discretion over the use of the funds.

Despite this, Rinsch allegedly moved the $11 million through a network of accounts and ultimately deposited the funds into his personal brokerage account.

Announcing the charges, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Matthew Podolsky said: “As alleged, Carl Erik Rinsch betrayed the trust placed in him by Netflix and defrauded the company out of millions of dollars in a scheme to capitalize on the riski