‘47 Ronin’ Director Gets 30 Months for Diverting Netflix’s $11 Million Into Dogecoin

A Hollywood director who diverted $11 million in Netflix production funding into cryptocurrency bets and luxury purchases was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Cointelegraph reported July 1 that a federal court in Manhattan sentenced Carl Rinsch, who directed the 2013 film “47 Ronin,” to 30 months in prison. Rinsch was convicted in December on fraud and money-laundering charges.

Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement that Rinsch received $11 million from a streaming company for what was supposed to be television production work and misappropriated the money. Instead of using the funds for production, he spent them on high-risk stock options, cryptocurrency speculation and personal luxury purchases. Clayton said the sentence should serve as a strong warning that fraud will not be tolerated.

According to a March 2025 indictment and a New York Times report, Netflix initially paid $44 million to produce Rinsch’s science-fiction series “White Horse.” After Rinsch sought more funding, the company wired an additional $11 million in March 2020. He put $10.5 million of that into stock options and lost roughly half within weeks. Rinsch then transferred the remaining $4 million to crypto exchange Kraken and invested all of it in Dogecoin. The bet generated about $27 million in profit by the time he exited the position in May 2021.

Rinsch spent about $10 million of the Dogecoin profits on personal expenses. He used $2.4 million to buy five Rolls-Royces and one Ferrari, $3.8 million on furniture and antiques, and $1.8 million to pay off credit-card bills.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison term, but the court imposed a 30-month sentence. Rinsch’s legal team argued that mental health issues warranted leniency, and Keanu Reeves, who starred in “47 Ronin,” submitted a letter asking the court for mercy. The court also ordered three years of supervised release, forfeiture of $11 million and a $700 special assessment.