Anna Delvey, the false heiress who deceived the high society of New York and whose life of luxury left large debts unpaid

She presented herself to the world as Anna Delvey, the German heiress to a fortune estimated at $67 million.

Delvey lived in five-star hotels, wore high-fashion designer clothes, attended exclusive parties, traveled in private planes, and gave generous tips of $100.

His credentials soon earned him a place in New York’s high society.

The only problem is that Anna Delvey never really existed.

Her real name was Anna Sorokin, a 28-year-old swindler of German-Russian nationality, who was sentenced to between 4 and 12 years in prison for various crimes of fraud for having appropriated US$275,000 through multiple frauds.

This February 11 he was released from prison under parole.

“This defendant’s alleged criminal conduct ranged from committing check fraud to loan theft in excess of $100,000 and included plots that resulted in a free vacation to Morocco and private jet travel,” said Cyrus Vance, U.S. Attorney district of Manhattan, when he filed the first charges against him in October 2017.

Private planes and luxury travel

Between November 2016 and August 2017, Sorokin not only defrauded hotels, banks and businesses but also friends, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

She was comfortable in the world of fashion and fine art, and claimed to have plans to create a private arts club to be called the Anna Delvey Foundation.

Sorokin claimed that he needed to borrow money, alleging that there were bureaucratic obstacles that prevented him from moving his fortune from Europe to the United States.

In November 2016, he submitted false documents – including bank statements – to apply for a $22 million loan to open his arts club in Manhattan.

The request was denied, but he received an advance of $100,000 anyway.

According to prosecutors, Sorokin used bad checks to move money between accounts at different banks and withdrew the funds before the checks bounced.

The Prosecutor’s Office accuses her of using fraudulent funds to pay a bill for US $ 30,000 in a hotel in Soho, a fashionable area in New York.

She is also accused of chartering a private plane and never paying the $35,000 bill.

One of his victims, Rachel Williams, told the publication nyc magazine that she had been invited by Sorokin on an all-expenses-paid trip to Morocco. When the fake heiress’s credit card was declined, she asked her friend to pay her bill, promising to pay her back.

Trip included rental of a luxury pool villa with a private butler for six nights. Williams never got back the US$62,000 he paid.

“This is not a fashion show”

Sorokin used the swindled money to buy expensive designer clothes, for personal training sessions and for his lavish lifestyle, according to prosecutors.

But his defense attorney, Todd Spodek, told the jury that his client never intended to steal anyone’s money. He claimed that Sorokin was just trying to buy time until he could start a successful business to pay off all his debts..

During the trial, there was one detail that caught the attention of journalists: the high cost of the defendant’s clothing, which included luxury brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Miu Miu.

According to some sources, Sorokin had her own stylist and was twice reprimanded for being late for court, after refusing to wear the clothes you were given to go to court on the grounds that they were not up to your standards.

“This is not a fashion show,” Judge Diane Kiesel said angrily on one such occasion, when Sorokin finally arrived in the courtroom. “This is the last time we are playing with clothes.”

to the screen

Delvey’s story is so scandalous that it is in the process of being become two television seriesboth in charge of recognized figures for millionaire companies.

On the one hand, actress Lena Dunham, famous for the series Girlsis working on an adaptation of the story, presumably for HBO, titled “Anna Delvey, German Princess.”

On the other, Shonda Rhimes, whose company has been in charge of series like Grey’s Anatomy,Scandaland How to Get Away with Murderis writing and producing another series for Netflix.

In an interview with the American daily New York TimesRhimes said that after reading about Delvey he knew “exactly what the series is going to be,” which is “a clear indicator” of how fascinated he was by it.

*This article was originally published on April 12, 2019 and was updated with news of Anna Delvey’s release from prison on parole.