The unexpected defense of Keanu Reeves for a director convicted of a multimillion-dollar fraud against Netflix

Keanu Reeves surprised many by intervening in one of the most talked-about legal cases in the U.S. audiovisual industry. The actor requested a federal judge to consider a reduction of the sentence for director Carl Rinsch, who was found guilty of diverting millions of dollars that Netflix had allocated for the production of a series that never came to fruition.

Rinsch, 50, was accused in March 2025 of improperly taking 11 million dollars provided by the platform to develop a television project. After the trial, which concluded in December, he was found guilty of electronic fraud and money laundering. In this context, Reeves decided to send a letter to federal judge Jed S. Rakoff, who is responsible for issuing the final sentence.

“I am writing in support of Carl Rinsch regarding his upcoming sentencing. I do not know the details of this case. But based on what I know about Carl, I wanted to take the opportunity to write on his behalf, hoping that his sentence may be mitigated with measures of leniency and compassion, as well as justice,” the actor expressed in the letter dated May 1, according to court documents obtained by People magazine.

The relationship between the two began during the filming of 47 Ronin, the production released in 2013 in which Reeves played a samurai in feudal Japan and which was directed by Carl Rinsch.

According to the actor himself in the letter, their friendship continued long after the film's release. He even recalled attending the director's wedding in Uruguay in 2014.

Reeves also revealed that he had access to a preliminary version of White Horse, the series that Rinsch was developing for Netflix and which ultimately was never completed.

According to an investigation published by The New York Times in 2023, the actor even reportedly invested money in the project and was listed as an associate producer of the series.

How did the fraud occur?

The legal case claims that the director used the funds that Netflix had allocated for production to make speculative investments and acquire luxury goods.

According to details provided by the federal prosecutor's office for the Southern District of New York at the time of the conviction, Rinsch allocated a large portion of the money to cryptocurrency operations and personal expenses.

Among the purchases identified by investigators, at least 1.7 million dollars in credit card spending, 3.3 million in furniture, antiques, and luxury mattresses, as well as 387,000 dollars for the purchase of a high-end Swiss watch are included.

The list also includes around 2.4 million dollars invested in a collection of luxury vehicles consisting of five Rolls-Royce cars and a red Ferrari.

Prosecutors believe that these expenses demonstrated that the money was never used for the original purpose for which it had been provided by Netflix.