A Hollywood director, who received an investment of over 60 billion won from Netflix to make an SF series, has come under criminal prosecution for wasting the money for personal use without fulfilling the contract.
On the 20th (local time), according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors arrested director Carl Eric Linshi, 47, on the 18th in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, and charged him with seven counts, including fraud.
Director Linshi is accused of violating the contract by receiving millions of dollars in investments from a video streaming service under the pretext of producing a TV series and using the funds for personal purposes, such as speculative options and cryptocurrency investments.
Leslie Backskis, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), stated in a press release that "Carl Linshi is accused of stealing more than $11 million (approximately 16.13 billion won) from a well-known streaming platform to fund luxury purchases and personal investments instead of completing the promised TV series."
Although not specified in the indictment, Hollywood media outlet Variety reported based on court records that the company defrauded by director Linshi was Netflix.
Earlier, the New York Times (NYT) reported in detail about the incidents between Netflix and director Linshi in November 2023. Gaining fame from the film '47 Ronin' (2013) starring Keanu Reeves, Linshi had partially completed the screenplay for an SF TV series titled 'White Horse' and signed a production contract with Netflix in 2018.
According to the indictment and U.S. media reports, Netflix paid approximately $44 million (about 64.53 billion won) in production costs to director Linshi’s side at that time. After that, Linshi started filming, but claimed he couldn't complete it due to a lack of funds, demanding more money, and Netflix added an additional $11 million.
However, director Linshi used the production budget for purchasing securities such as call and put options, and in less than two months, he squandered more than half of the $11 million. He also used the remaining money for cryptocurrency investments, divorce lawsuit expenses, luxury hotel stays, and purchases of luxury cars and watches. Ultimately, the Netflix series was not completed.
Prosecutors explained that director Linshi could face up to 20 years for charges of wire fraud, up to 20 years for money laundering, and up to 10 years for each of the remaining five charges.