Fake Heiress Anna Delvey, Who Tricked New York's Elite, Found Guilty In Fraud Trial

Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey and "The SoHo Grifter," had scammed hotels, friends and banks for big bucks.
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A woman who posed as a fake German heiress to scam hotels, restaurants and a Vanity Fair employee out of tens of thousands of dollars while living lavishly in New York City was found guilty on Thursday.

A jury in Manhattan found Anna Sorokin, who was known in New York social circles as Anna Delvey, then later as “The Soho Grifter,” guilty on eight counts, including four counts of theft of services and second-degree grand larceny, the New York Post and New York Times reported.

She was acquitted on one count of first-degree grand larceny in which she’d been accused of trying to obtain a $22 million loan to develop a nightclub.

Sorokin faces five to 15 years in prison for the charge of second-degree grand larceny, according to The Associated Press.

Sorokin has a Russian passport, but she tricked many New York elites and socialites into believing she was an heiress from Germany with a bottomless bank account.

In 2016 and 2017, Sorokin lived out of luxury boutique hotels, including the 11 Howard in SoHo, dined in expensive restaurants and often shopped at designer boutiques, reportedly offering to cover the bill for her friends any chance she could.

According to evidence presented at her trial, the 28-year-old also forged financial documents, lied about her family, and faked having an accountant and financial adviser in an attempt to scam banks into giving her multimillion-dollar loans, the Times reported. After a banker was unable to verify Sorokin’s documents, City National Bank denied Sorokin’s request for a loan of $22 million.

Sorokin played the role of a spoiled heiress until her credit cards began getting denied and she ran out of cash, according to the Times.

Her far-reaching grift attracted attention nationwide after her story was reported in a viral New York magazine article and an essay written by a former Vanity Fair photo editor who said she was forced to pay $70,000 after Sorokin invited her on a trip to Morocco and couldn’t foot the bill.

Sorokin’s sentencing is scheduled for May 9.

TV producer Shonda Rhimes acquired the rights to the New York magazine article that detailed Sorokin’s scamming of New York’s elite and is reportedly working on a TV series adaptation of her story.

Writer and “Girls” creator Lena Dunham is reportedly turning the Vanity Fair essay, written by Rachel Williams about being conned out of $62,000 by Sorkin, into a series, too.

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