I’m not able to prove Netflix is a money laundering scheme however...

Director Charged for Fraud in $11M Scheme Over Unfinished Netflix Sci-Fi TV Series

The latest news only solidifies my hunch.

There’s no conclusive public evidence to confirm this as fact. However, I can provide a list of public information and let you draw your own conclusions.

Low Reported Taxes in France (2019-2020): Reports from outlets like La Lettre noted that Netflix Services France paid less than €1 million in corporate taxes between 2019 and 2020, despite significant user numbers in France. This was allegedly achieved by routing revenue through a Netherlands-based unit, a practice that stopped in 2021 when French revenue jumped to €1.2 billion from €47 million the prior year. Critics see this as a red flag for tax avoidance, which some speculate could mask other financial maneuvers.

Former Executive Conviction (2021): Michael Kail, a former Netflix VP of IT Operations, was convicted in 2021 of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering for accepting bribes and kickbacks from tech vendors. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $700,000. Though this was an individual act, not a company-wide scheme, it highlights vulnerabilities in Netflix’s financial oversight.

Italian Tax Settlement (2022): In 2022, Netflix settled a tax dispute with Italy for €55.8 million, addressing allegations of underreported income. While this doesn’t prove money laundering, it adds to a pattern of tax-related scrutiny that feeds public suspicion about financial transparency.

Tax Fraud and Money Laundering Investigations (2024): In November 2024, French and Dutch authorities searched Netflix’s offices in Paris and Amsterdam as part of a preliminary investigation into tax fraud and money laundering, led by France’s Parquet National Financier (PNF). This probe, opened in November 2022, hints at potential financial irregularities, though no charges have been filed yet, and Netflix claims compliance with local tax laws.

And now, the most recent news of a once acclaimed Director fleecing the company for millions.

The Hollywood Reporter states, “The saga allegedly involves Carl Erik Rinsch losing millions of dollars in securities trades, making that money back in cryptocurrency investments and using the profits to sue Netflix for additional funds.”

How does that even happen? Where is the oversight? Clearly, as the facts indicate, Netflix lacks any proper financial oversight.

These points don’t confirm Netflix is a money laundering scheme; they’re pieces of public information that have led to speculation. Yet, this latest news seems to speak to the “how” of it all, if indeed Netflix was a money laundering operation.

If Netflix were hypothetically laundering money through its big budgets, it would involve disguising illicit funds as legitimate revenue or expenses within its financial operations. Money laundering typically follows three stages—placement (introducing dirty money into the system), layering (obscuring its origins through transactions), and integration (making it appear clean and usable). Here’s what that might look like in Netflix’s context.

Netflix could report exaggerated production costs for films or series—say, claiming a show costs $200 million when it actually costs $100 million. The excess $100 million could be funneled to shell companies or offshore accounts tied to the laundering operation, disguised as payments to producers, directors, or vendors. Other manners could involve:

-Licensing Low-Value Content at Inflated Prices

-Fictitious Production Companies

-Offshore Revenue Routing

-High Talent Payments

-Unreleased or Low-Profile Projects

-Cash-Heavy Vendor Contracts

-Subscription Revenue Manipulation

-Tax Write-Offs as Cover

So many options and so many seem to line up with the public scrutiny and most importantly, the facts. So how are they moving the money? That is, if they were in fact doing more than just producing “Dirty Money.”

-Cash Deposits via Front Companies

-Overseas Wire Transfers

-Cryptocurrency Payments

Per the Hollywood Reporter, “In 2020, Netflix sent Rinsch an additional $11 million in funds at his request to complete the series, according to the indictment. It was meant to be used for various pre and postproduction projects, including paying crew and editing footage that had already been shot.

But prosecutor allege that Rinsch transferred the money, wired to his production banner, to his personal brokerage account. In less than two months, he lost more than half of the funds trading in risky investments, the indictment says, before using the remainder to purchase cryptocurrency.”

It all points to the same kind of illicit actions that Netflix has been scrutinized for in the past. All of this public information seems to raise alot of eyebrows. Netflix could be in bed with Drug Cartels, Organized Crime, Corrupt Politicians or Oligarchs. Corporate Fraudsters are everywhere so the notion that they are in bed with any or all of the above is not far fetched.

Netflix first launched its foray into original content with the critically acclaimed “House of Cards.” That show cost $90 million to produce its initial season of thirteen episodes. A massive financial commitment that would kick off what now has become the Netflix App. Streaming on Netflix dominated, and the company spent millions to house libraries of legacy content from Hollywood Studios. Eventually, they would turn to original content and local productions around the globe. This strategy would ultimately lead to the success of “Squid Games” which cost the streamer roughly $22 million and generated a whopping $900 million in business.

So perhaps if you are Netflix, when a Director ask for another $11 million you just dole it out without thinking twice. However, you’d think you would want to know what you were paying for it you were truly in the business of producing content.

For the sake of clarification, this was a request for an additional $11 million. According to the BBC, “Between 2018 to 2019, the streaming giant gave Mr Rinsch an initial budget of $44m to film the show, which depicts artificial human clones, but he allegedly never completed a single episode.”

Who hands over $55 million in total without seeing a single episode? Rinsch claimed the additional $11 million was needed to complete the series. That math doesn’t even make sense.

Per the BBC, “In March 2020, Netflix sent him another $11 million after he argued that the initial budget was "not sufficient", according to prosecutors.”

Did anyone view a rough cut of anything? Production dailies?

Typically, by this point some Netflix Executive would have reviewed at least a glimpse of the series to at least gauge the validity of the overages.

So, was Rinsch working against Netflix or with Netflix?

Is Netflix a money laundering operation?

If not, where was the financial oversight?

Perhaps the oversight was there all along.