Date: March 18, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Leslie Backschies, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a seven-count Indictment charging Carl Erik Rinsch for engaging in a scheme to defraud a subscription video on-demand streaming service (“Streaming Company-1”) in connection with a planned science fiction television show called “White Horse.” Rinsch was arrested today in West Hollywood, California, and will be presented later today in the Central District of California. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “As alleged, Carl Erik Rinsch orchestrated a scheme to steal millions by soliciting a large investment from a video streaming service, claiming that money would be used to finance a television show that he was creating. But that was fiction. Rinsch instead allegedly used the funds on personal expenses and investments, including highly speculative options and cryptocurrency trading. Rinsch’s arrest is a reminder that this Office and our partners at the FBI remain vigilant in the fight against fraud and will bring those who cheat and steal to justice.”
FBI Assistant Director Leslie Backschies said: “Carl Rinsch allegedly stole more than $11 million from a prominent streaming platform to finance lavish purchases and personal investments instead of completing a promised television series. The FBI will continue to reel in any individual who seeks to defraud businesses.”
As alleged in the Indictment:[1]
Rinsch is a film and television writer and director who partially completed a science fiction television show called “White Horse.” In 2018, Rinsch reached an agreement with Streaming Company-1 in which Streaming Company-1 would both pay Rinsch for the existing episodes of White Horse and also fund completion of the rest of the show. Between 2018 and 2019, Streaming Company-1 paid approximately $44 million for White Horse.
Between late 2019 and early 2020, Rinsch demanded even more money from Streaming Company-1 to complete White Horse. Streaming Company-1 ultimately agreed to pay another $11 million, and transferred those funds to a company Rinsch controlled on or about March 6, 2020. The entirety of those funds was to be spent on the completion of White Horse.
But Rinsch did not use those funds to complete White Horse. Instead, within days, Rinsch began transferring the funds he received through a number of different bank accounts before consolidating them in a personal brokerage account. Rinsch then used those funds to make a number of personal and speculative purchases of securities. His trading was unsuccessful, and in less than two months after receiving $11 million from Streaming Company-1, Rinsch had lost more than half of those funds.
Even after losing most of the $11 million, Rinsch still did not spend the remaining funds he had stolen on White Horse. Instead, he used the money to speculate on cryptocurrency, and on personal expenses and luxury items, including approximately $1,787,000 on credit card bills; approximately $1,073,000 on lawyers to sue Streaming Company-1 for even more money, and for lawyers related to his divorce; approximately $395,000 to stay at the Four Seasons hotel and at various luxury rental properties; approximately $3,787,000 on furniture and antiques, including approximately $638,000 to purchase two mattresses and approximately $295,000 on luxury bedding and linens; approximately $2,417,000 to purchase five Rolls-Royces and one Ferrari; and approximately $652,000 on watches and clothing.
Rinsch of Los Angeles, California, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; 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 maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding work of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jackie Delligatti, David A. Markewitz, and Kevin Mead are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.