She fooled New York's elites pretending to be a wealthy heiress, scamming her way to $275,000, a prison sentence ... and a Netflix deal with "Inventing Anna."
Now, Anna Sorokin is expected to be deported to Germany. This is her story.
Now, Anna Sorokin is expected to be deported to Germany. This is her story.
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TVTranscript
00:00🎵
00:26Anna came to New York, no rich parents, no connections.
00:29Sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it.
00:31🎵
00:40This is just like my life, I'm just trying to like make,
00:43like make it work and figure things out.
00:45🎵
01:13So she concocted this fake identity, Anna Delvey,
01:16uh, where she was this German heiress.
01:17She kind of like used this position,
01:19uh, this fake identity in order to,
01:22uh, kind of like live among the New York City's,
01:25uh, socialite class, the 1%,
01:27and sticking everyone else with the bill.
01:29🎵
01:47To seek funding for her foundation idea,
01:49and, you know, prosecutors would say,
01:50for her own lavish lifestyle,
01:52um, she sought loans from City National Bank
01:56and Fortress Investment Group.
01:58So Anna said, you know, I'm this German heiress,
01:59I have this, uh, $60 million trust
02:02that I'm gonna get in a few years,
02:04and when that comes through,
02:06I will be able to pay you back.
02:07I just need, um, you know, a loan for the time being.
02:10🎵
02:22There's Peter Henecke, who she said was this person
02:24who managed her family finances back in Germany.
02:27He didn't exist, but she kind of just made up emails
02:30and sent them from him.
02:31At some point, she used, like, a voice,
02:34uh, disguiser app on her phone,
02:36uh, in order to kind of, like, pretend to be
02:38another person speaking with these bankers,
02:41you know, trying to convince them that this was all real.
02:43🎵
02:51She kind of, like, used her, um, connections
02:55and her name-dropping abilities
02:56in order to be able to successfully scam
02:59a few different businesses.
03:00There were several hotels she stayed at for weeks,
03:02and she racked up massive bills,
03:03but she gave them credit cards on file
03:04that just didn't work.
03:05🎵
03:17At some point, you know, they said,
03:19these credit cards aren't working, can you pay,
03:21uh, you know, she said, oh, a wire transfer's coming.
03:25But, you know, that wasn't really acceptable,
03:26and she got kicked out.
03:27This happened several times to several hotels.
03:29🎵
03:34On another occasion, she, you know, took a Blade,
03:37which is kind of like an Uber for helicopters
03:40and private jets, uh, which, you know, again,
03:42she promised to pay them back.
03:44She said, oh, I know the CEO.
03:46I met him at this party, uh,
03:48and she was allowed to take this flight.
03:50🎵
04:04The men just stood in our villa,
04:06and they were waiting for her to fix it.
04:07They want a credit card that works right there,
04:10right now, like, they're done waiting.
04:11Rachel ultimately offered up her card
04:14with the expectation that her wealthy friend,
04:15Anna, would pay her back.
04:17🎵
04:21It would have been easier had she just disappeared,
04:23but she kept in touch with me every day,
04:25every single day, with just excuse after excuse,
04:28fake wire confirmation numbers,
04:31um, promises of cashier's checks.
04:33🎵
04:45Um, and they kind of, like, agreed to hang out.
04:47Little did Anna know that Rachel was actually
04:49working with NYPD for a sting operation,
04:52where the Los Angeles police would arrest her
04:54at this restaurant appointment,
04:55extradite her back to New York,
04:57where she'd be slapped with more, uh, severe charges
04:59than just skipping out on that one hotel bill.
05:02🎵
05:16I don't see any indication she ever sat in jail
05:19without thinking about all the cheating,
05:21the stealing, and the lying
05:23that her phony persona and lifestyle
05:26kept afloat for years.
05:27And certainly, she didn't think about
05:29the people she saw.
05:30🎵
05:59I feel like I'm just trying to deal with, um,
06:02with consequences of my actions.
06:04I'm just trying to make the best out of my situation.