Anna Sorokin, known as Anna Delvey, is 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.
83 Facts About Anna Sorokin
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Anna Sorokin conceived of a private members' club and arts foundation, which included leasing a large building to feature pop-up shops and exhibitions by notable artists she met while interning.
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Anna Sorokin later created fake financial documents to substantiate her claims of having a multimillion-euro trust fund, and forged multiple wire transfer confirmations.
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Anna Sorokin used these documents, as well as fraudulent checks, to trick banks, acquaintances, and realtors into paying out cash and granting large loans without collateral.
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Anna Sorokin used this to fund her lavish lifestyle, including residencies in multiple upscale hotels.
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Between 2013 and 2017, Anna Sorokin defrauded and deceived major financial institutions, banks, hotels, and individuals for a total of $275,000.
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In 2019, Anna Sorokin was convicted in a New York state court of attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services, and was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison.
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On 5 October 2022, Anna Sorokin was granted a $10,000 bail bond and released from prison.
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Anna Sorokin's story gained publicity when Williams wrote a lengthy article in Vanity Fair about her experiences with Anna Sorokin in 2018.
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Anna Sorokin expanded on the story in her 2019 book My Friend Anna.
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Anna Sorokin was born on January 23,1991, in Domodedovo, a working-class satellite town south of Moscow, Russian Federal Republic in the Soviet Union.
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In 2007, when Anna Sorokin was 16, her family relocated to North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
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Anna Sorokin then opened an HVAC business specializing in efficient energy use.
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Around that time, Sorokin began using the name "Anna Delvey", which she claimed was based on her mother's maiden name.
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Anna Sorokin's parents said they "do not recognize the surname".
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In mid-2013, Anna Sorokin traveled to New York City to attend New York Fashion Week.
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Anna Sorokin received planning help from the son of architect Santiago Calatrava.
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Anna Sorokin discussed the sale of drinks at the venue with Roo Rogers.
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Anna Sorokin castigated people who did not have many followers on Instagram and bragged about how she was going to rent a $12,000-per-month six-bedroom rooftop apartment.
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Dee said that Anna Sorokin relied on her and other acquaintances to pay for her expenses, by claiming she had forgotten her wallet or that it was an emergency and her credit cards did not work, shedding crocodile tears that dried up quickly when she realized the scheme would not work.
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In 2015, Anna Sorokin met the art collector and University of Pennsylvania student Michael Xufu Huang at a dinner party.
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Also in 2015, Anna Sorokin attended Art Basel in Miami Beach.
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Anna Sorokin hired a public relations firm to book a birthday party for herself at Sadelle's restaurant in January 2016; after her credit card was declined and pictures of Huang at the event were posted on social media, Huang was asked by restaurant staff if he had Anna Sorokin's contact details.
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Anna Sorokin was eventually repaid but from a Venmo account by an unfamiliar name.
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Anna Sorokin then blocked Sorokin's access to him on social media, ending their friendship.
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In February 2016, while Anna Sorokin was living in a hotel room in The Standard, High Line, she met Rachel DeLoache Williams, then a photo editor at Vanity Fair, at a nightclub.
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Williams described Anna Sorokin as "demanding and rude to waitstaff" and said that "when an elevator opened, she wouldn't wait for other people to get off".
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Nevertheless, Williams became close friends with Anna Sorokin and was later instrumental in her arrest.
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In November 2016, Anna Sorokin submitted false documents as part of a loan application for $22 million to City National.
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City National refused to extend credit when Anna Sorokin failed to provide the source of the Swiss assets, and she then applied for a loan from Fortress.
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Fortress agreed to consider the application if Anna Sorokin paid $100,000 to cover legal expenses relating to the application.
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On January 12,2017, Anna Sorokin convinced City National to grant her a temporary overdraft facility for $100,000, on the promise that it would be repaid promptly.
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Anna Sorokin provided fake AOL email addresses of "Peter Hennecke", a non-existent business manager; when suspicions arose, Anna Sorokin claimed that he died, and then invented a new persona, "Bettina Wagner".
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Anna Sorokin then spent lavishly on luxury clothes, electronics, and a personal trainer, as well as $800 hair highlighting and $400 eyelash extensions.
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Anna Sorokin often gave a $100 cash gratuity to the concierge, whom she befriended, and other employees for simple tasks such as restaurant recommendations or bringing packages to her room.
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Still, most of the staff found Anna Sorokin to be annoying and described her comments as impolite and classist.
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Anna Sorokin became comfortable in the hotel and regularly walked around in leggings or a hotel robe, often dining at Le Coucou, the hotel restaurant, where Anna Sorokin befriended chef Daniel Rose and billed the cost of her meals to her room.
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Anna Sorokin treated the concierge to massages, manicures, and sessions with the celebrity personal trainer Kacy Duke.
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Anna Sorokin had a case of 1975 Dom Perignon champagne delivered to the staff in an attempt to keep them on her side; hotel policy prevented the staff from accepting the gift.
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Anna Sorokin then wired $30,000 to 11 Howard to pay the outstanding bill.
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In May 2017, by sending a forged wire transfer confirmation from Deutsche Bank for the $35,390 fee, Anna Sorokin booked a return charter flight on a business jet via Blade to Omaha, Nebraska, to attend the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway with the goal of meeting Warren Buffett.
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Anna Sorokin later claimed that during the trip she snuck into a private party at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium where she mingled with Bill Gates.
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Since Anna Sorokin still refused to provide a credit card to the 11 Howard hotel, while she was in Omaha, the entry code to her hotel room was changed, and her belongings were placed in storage.
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Anna Sorokin stayed two nights at The Bowery Hotel, sending the hotel a fake wire transfer receipt from Deutsche Bank.
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In May 2017, Anna Sorokin invited Williams, Kacy Duke, and her videographer on what she said was an "all-expenses-paid" journey to Morocco, supposedly because she needed to "reset" her Electronic System for Travel Authorization.
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Anna Sorokin gave excuses, blaming people for typing in the numbers wrong, or their systems for being down.
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Anna Sorokin convinced Williams to pay the $62,000 bill, which was more than a year of net salary for Williams, using her work and personal credit cards, with a promise to reimburse her via wire transfer.
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In Morocco, Anna Sorokin stayed at Kasbah Tamadot, a Virgin Limited Edition luxury hotel, and at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Casablanca, where she asked Duke, who had already returned to New York due to a foodborne illness, to pay for the room.
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When Duke offered to pay for a flight back to New York for Anna Sorokin, she asked for first class travel.
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Anna Sorokin drank fine wines and the most expensive champagnes and took a helicopter to the airport in Casablanca.
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Anna Sorokin then attempted a similar scam at the W New York Downtown Hotel and Residences, failing to pay her $503.76 bill; she was evicted after two days and charged with theft of services.
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Anna Sorokin then interrupted Duke in the middle of a date, crying and pressuring her into providing lodging.
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Anna Sorokin asked Williams for lodging, again in a crying tantrum; Williams refused.
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Anna Sorokin tried to dine and dash at the restaurant at the Le Parker Meridien hotel.
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Anna Sorokin was arrested on October 3,2017, in a sting operation planned by Michael McCaffrey, a police officer with the New York Police Department working with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
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Later that month, Anna Sorokin was indicted by a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
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On December 18,2018, Anna Sorokin appeared in New York City Criminal Court and rejected a plea deal that offered three to nine years in prison.
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At trial, Anna Sorokin's lawyer defended her by saying that her intent all along was to repay the debt and that services were given to her in exchange for publicity on Instagram.
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Anna Sorokin described her as an entrepreneur with a comparison to Frank Sinatra, claiming they both created a "golden opportunity" in New York.
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Anna Sorokin was found not guilty of two other charges: one of attempted grand larceny in the first degree relating to the original loan application with City National, and one of larceny in the second degree relating to the alleged theft of $62,000 from Rachel Williams in Marrakesh.
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On May 9,2019, Anna Sorokin was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in state prison, fined $24,000, and ordered to pay restitution of $199,000, including $100,000 to City National, $70,000 to Citibank, and approximately two-thirds of the amount owed to Blade.
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Anna Sorokin was not forced to pay the $160,000 in legal fees owed to Perkins Coie related to the unsuccessful lease of Church Missions House, $65,000 in legal fees due to Gibson Dunn related to the unsuccessful $22 million loan application, and $30,000 in legal fees due to Lowenstein Sandler.
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Anna Sorokin was incarcerated at Rikers Island during the trial, where she had thirteen infractions for misbehavior such as fighting and disobeying orders, and was placed into solitary confinement during Christmas.
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On February 11,2021, Anna Sorokin was released from prison on parole.
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Anna Sorokin was held in a New Jersey county jail by ICE awaiting deportation to Germany, which she is legally contesting.
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An immigration judge ruled that if Anna Sorokin were freed, she "would have the ability and inclination to continue to commit fraudulent and dishonest acts".
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Anna Sorokin alleges ICE refused multiple requests for a COVID-19 booster shot.
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On October 5,2022, Anna Sorokin was granted a $10,000 bail bond and released from prison.
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In 2018, after an article by Jessica Pressler on Anna Sorokin was published in New York, Netflix paid Anna Sorokin $320,000 for the rights to her life story.
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Williams received $300,000 for the book, in which she details her experiences with Anna Sorokin, including how the trip to Marrakesh affected her financially and mentally.
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In December 2019, Anna Sorokin's story was the subject of Fake Heiress, a drama-documentary podcast by journalist Vicky Baker and playwright Chloe Moss released by BBC Radio 4, starring Bella Dayne as Anna Sorokin.
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Netflix's nine-episode series Inventing Anna Sorokin was created by Shonda Rhimes.
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Anna Sorokin is working on a book about her time in jail and a podcast.
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In late May 2022, Anna Sorokin joined sisters Paris Hilton and Nicky Rothschild on an episode of Hilton's podcast This is Paris.
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One of the pieces, titled Send Bitcoin, features a seated Anna Sorokin wearing a red dress while working on a computer and facing away from the viewer.
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On May 19,2022, while Anna Sorokin was still incarcerated, "Allegedly" opened in a nightclub on the second floor of the Public Hotel in Manhattan.
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Anna Sorokin addressed the crowd via a prerecorded recording, stating the show was "my narrative from my perspective".
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In June 2022, Anna Sorokin announced that she was launching a collection of non-fungible tokens.
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Anna Sorokin created 10 such tokens that she claimed will give holders "exclusive access" to her.
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Anna Sorokin maintains social media accounts, which she has described as satire, on Twitter and Instagram.
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In January 2021, Anna Sorokin penned a sarcastic letter to Donald Trump in which she anticipated his becoming a prisoner at Rikers Island.
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Anna Sorokin had a boyfriend in New York for two years until he moved to the United Arab Emirates.
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Anna Sorokin suggested she would reveal his identity for a fee, with bidding starting at $10,000; however, Rachel DeLoache Williams revealed the boyfriend's identity to be Hunter Lee Soik.