YOU (South Africa)

ANNA REINVENTED

She conned her way around New York’s elite circles for four years – now she’s enjoying the limelight again after being released from prison

- COMPILED BY NICI DE WET

YOU’D think someone whose manipulati­ve modus operandi was exposed for the world to see might lay low once they were released from prison. But Anna Sorokin – better known as Anna Delvey – the fake German heiress, who conned her way around New York for four years, is doing anything but keeping her head down and her mouth shut.

Free of her detested prison garb, she’s ready for the world again. Soon after her release, the 31-year-old was pictured in New York’s East Village outside the apartment her lawyer organised for her.

And the glamorous image she cut would’ve been familiar with fans of Inventing Anna, the hit Netflix show that delves into her astonishin­g web of deception.

Oversized dark glasses, fashionabl­e black coat and high heels were all in place as she went to see her parole officer. But there was one tell-tale sign of her current plight – the ankle monitor tracking her movements. While she might be out of jail, she isn’t out of the woods just yet.

Anna was arrested in 2017 for a string of financial crimes and sentenced to four and a half years in jail. In February 2021 she was released on good behaviour, but a month later she was arrested again – this time for overstayin­g her US visa. She spent another 18 months behind bars before being released on house arrest and is now fighting with Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t ( ICE) officials to stay in America.

But Anna is making the most of her semi-freedom, even posing for a “photoshoot” while photograph­ers were perched on the fire escape outside her apartment.

She’s also given interviews and sat down with the New York Times soon after her release.

“I’m really happy,” she says. “So many immigratio­n lawyers told me I’d get deported to Mars before I’d get out in New York. I just had to find the person who’d align with my vision, not accept ‘no’ for an answer and make it happen.”

That person is lawyer John Sandweg, who has neverthe

less issued a word of caution. “Anna will continue to face deportatio­n proceeding­s and her release will be closely monitored by ICE and the State of New York.”

But as far as she’s concerned, they can bring it on. “I feel like if I were to leave and say, ‘Oh, whatever, I’m going to, like, move to Europe’, I would be accepting the label they are trying to snap on me,” she says.

“I deserve a chance. I made a mistake and served my time – I feel I should deserve a second opportunit­y.”

ANNA’S modest fifth-floor flat is a far cry from the deluxe boutique hotels she used to frequent. For years she led the life of a glitzy New York socialite, complete with a designer wardrobe and friends in high places.

She claimed to have a $60-million trust fund courtesy of her uber-rich German dad, but in reality, her father is Vadim Sorokin, who worked as a truck driver in Moscow before the family relocated to Eschweiler, Germany, in 2007.

As a young adult, Anna became obsessed with fashion and moved to London and attended Central Saint Martins art school.

She soon dropped out and returned to Germany before moving to Paris where she worked for a French fashion magazine. It was around that time she started using the surname Delvey, which she claimed was her mom’s maiden name. She later admitted to making it up.

In 2013, she attended New York Fashion Week and fell in love with the city. She transferre­d to her company’s office in the Big Apple and after quitting her job came up with the idea of the Anna Delvey Foundation – a private members club and art foundation, which would be funded by wealthy, art-loving New Yorkers. And so began her trail of deceit.

Anna came across as stylish and rich, but she was a grifter without a cent. She convinced a major bank into lending her $100 000 on credit and persuaded the executive of a private jet company to allow her to fly on credit.

She also racked up bills at high-end boutiques and luxury hotels, then dodged them when it was time to pay.

Anna lived by the saying “fake it till you make it”, says Rachel DeLoache Williams, a former photo editor at Vanity Fair, who was conned into paying for a luxury holiday in Morocco.

“She was also demanding and rude to wait staff,” Rachel recalls. “And when an elevator door opened, she wouldn’t wait for other people to get off.”

Rachel and Anna became close, but in the end, it was Rachel who spurred on Anna’s arrest when she helped police nab her in a sting operation.

AT HER trial, Anna’s lawyer claimed her intent all along had been to repay the money and services given to her in exchange for publicity on Instagram. He described her as an entreprene­ur and compared her to American actor and singer Frank Sinatra, claiming they both created a “golden opportunit­y” in New York.

Anna saw her trial as an opportunit­y to dress up. She made headlines for requesting a wardrobe stylist, who had to source designer outfits for her court appearance­s.

Her courtroom catwalk parade included a shift dress by Michael Kors and Victoria Beckham trousers. She once held up court proceeding­s for over an hour when she had a crying fit because her outfit “hadn’t been pressed”.

She was found guilty of eight charges, including theft totalling $275 000 (about R5m) and stealing at least one flight on a private jet.

In an interview before her sentencing, Anna said, “I’d be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything.”

Being at the centre of one of the biggest New York society scandals in decades made her famous and popular in prison, but she kept herself busy.

She created podcasts, wrote poetry and auctioned prison sketches. She also invested in cryptocurr­ency and in June this year she announced she was launching a collection of non-fungible tokens that would give holders “exclusive access” to her.

Now she’s out of jail, she’s involved in “many projects”, she says.

“Art is one of them. I’ m also working on my own podcast with a different guest for each episode. And then there’s my book. I’d love to do something with criminal-justice reform to highlight the struggles of other girls.”

Anna recently wrote a piece for the Daily Mail in which she says she spent 18 months “foundering in the sinkhole of America’s immigratio­n system” and lamenting the plight of immigrant mothers “who are locked up with murderers”.

She knows her every move will be watched, but she doesn’t care. “I perform better under pressure,” she says.

“So many people just can’t wait to see me do something crazy or illegal or go back to jail. I wouldn’t want to give them that satisfacti­on.”

‘I’D BE LYING TO YOU AND TO EVERYONE ELSE AND TO MYSELF IF I SAID I WAS SORRY FOR ANYTHING’

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? Anna at her sentencing at Manhattan’s State Supreme Court in May 2019.
Anna at her sentencing at Manhattan’s State Supreme Court in May 2019.
 ?? ??
 ?? ?? BELOW: Julia Garner plays Anna in the Netflix series Reinventin­g Anna.
BELOW: Julia Garner plays Anna in the Netflix series Reinventin­g Anna.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa