Fake German heiress jailed for up to 12 years after swindling more than £200k to fund lavish New York lifestyle
A CONWOMAN who swindled hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cash and five-star hotel stays posing as a rich heiress was yesterday jailed for up to 12 years.
Anna Sorokin, 28, reinvented herself as would-be socialite Anna Delvey to live the high-life in New York – tricking friends, banks and resorts into forking out for her.
German Anna maxed out credit cards and promised to pay off money she owed by claiming she had a massive trust fund – but it was all a ruse.
Sentencing her yesterday, Judge Diane Kiesel, of New York state Supreme Court, said Sorokin had been “blinded by the glitter and glamour of New York City.”
She added: “She wanted everything that big money could buy – except that Ms Sorokin didn’t have big money.
“All she had was a big scam.”
£200,000 CON
Sorokin – who guzzled expensive Sancerre wine and flew on private jets during her nearly two-year-long con – stole as much as $275,000 (£211k), prosecutors said.
All the while, she pretended she had a fortune of 60 million euros (£52m) through multiple acts of glamorous grifting in 2016 and 2017.
Remorseless Sorokin – who used a stylist to pick out outfits for her trial – has already spent more than 500 days in jail.
She appeared in court on Thursday in handcuffs wearing a black dress, black shoes and glasses with thick black frames.
The only time she showed emotions was when she was crying because she was upset about the clothing she had received from the Department of Corrections
Catherine McShaw
Prosecutor Catherine McCaw said: “The only time she showed emotions was when she was crying because she was upset about the clothing she had received from the Department of Corrections.
Tearful Sorokin, who was born in Russia before moving with her family to Germany as a teenager, spoke only to say she wanted “to apologise for the mistakes I made.”
Moments later, the judge waved a letter of support from three of Sorokin’s relatives – saying she did not know for sure if it too was a forgery.
FORGED DOCUMENTS
Prosecutors say Sorokin used fake bank statements to seek a loan of $22m (£16.9) from a bank to fund a private arts club she wanted to open in Manhattan.
She managed to get a $100,000 loan (£77k), which prosecutors said she never repaid.
Sorokin used about $30,000 (£23k) of that to cover her overdue bills at the fashionable 11 Howard hotel, where she was living.
Prosecutors said Sorokin also deposited bad checks amounting to $15,000 (£11,500) in an account with Signature Bank.
She managed to withdraw $8,200 (£6,300) in cash before the checks bounced – and used fake wire transfer receipts to trick victims.
A jury found her guilty on four counts of grand larceny and four counts of theft of services last month.
Immigration officials said in a statement that Sorokin was a German citizen who had illegally overstayed in the United States.
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She will be sent back to Germany once her sentence is served.
Sorokin will be able to seek parole after she has served four years.
Screenwriters are currently working on dramatisations of the Anna Delvey story, according to reports.
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