Last Updated on: 7th January 2024, 11:37 pm
Anna Sorokin, who posed as “Anna Delvey” when accused of committing fraud, was accused of being a con artist and fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress to access upper-class New York social and art scenes from 2013 to 2017.
Beginning
Anna Sorokin, posing as Anna Delvey, was a con artist and fraudster who infiltrated New York’s social and art scenes between 2013 and 2017. Born in Russia and moving to Germany at sixteen, Sorokin later relocated to New York City. There, she portrayed herself as a wealthy heiress with plans for a private members’ club and arts foundation, using fake financial documents to support her claims of a multimillion-euro trust fund. She defrauded banks, acquaintances, and realtors, funding a lavish lifestyle and accumulating around $275,000 through her schemes.
About the Trial
Sorokin’s trial began on March 20, 2019, after she rejected a plea deal. Notably, she had a wardrobe stylist for her court appearances, wearing designer outfits that contrasted sharply with her Rikers Island uniform. Her defense argued that she intended to repay her debts and compared her to Frank Sinatra, seeing her as an entrepreneur who seized opportunities in New York. The jury, however, found her guilty of eight charges, including grand larceny and theft of services, but not guilty of two charges, including the alleged theft of $62,000 from Rachel Williams in Marrakesh.
The Case Results
Sorokin was sentenced on May 9, 2019, to 4 to 12 years in state prison, fined $24,000, and ordered to pay $199,000 in restitution. Interestingly, the restitution and legal fees were partly covered by a $320,000 deal she made with Netflix, from which she was allowed to keep $22,000. She served two years in prison before being taken into custody for deportation to Germany. As of October 2022, Sorokin was released on a $10,000 bail bond and required to remain under 24-hour home confinement with electronic monitoring and no access to social media.
