Fake Heiress Trial
Anna Sorokin was a young, up and coming heiress who traveled in the best celebrity circles and left $100 tips as if it was pocket change. Behind all of the glitz and glamour was a con who fooled friends, banks, and hotels to see how the other half lived.
Sorokin lived in luxury New York hotel rooms she couldn't afford and promised a friend an all-expense-paid trip abroad, but stuck her with the $62,000 bill. She also faked bank statements in an attempt to get a $22 million loan.
Sorokin is on trial for grand larceny and theft of services charges alleging she swindled various people and businesses out of $275,000 within ten months. She claimed to be a wealthy German heiress with approximately $60 million being held abroad. Prosecutor Catherine McCaw said that Sorokin was born in Russia and doesn't have a cent to her name.
Apparently, Sorokin never intended to commit a crime according to Sorokin's attorney Todd Spodek. Spodek said that she was easily seduced by the high life after she saw how the appearance of wealth opened doors for people. Supposedly she was just buying time until she could start a business and repay her debts.
Sorokin faces deportation to Germany regardless of the outcome of the trial because authorities say that she overstayed her visa.
When she first arrived in the US, she changed her name(Anna Delvey) and got a new wardrobe to prove that she belonged in the shiny new world. Sorokin would give out different accounts of how she got wealthy such as her father being a diplomat or an oil baron. In reality, he is a former truck driver who runs a heating and cooling business.
People didn't see Sorokin's red flags when she asked them to put cabs and plane fares on their credit cards. She would say that she had trouble moving her assets from Europe and they would laugh it off as forgetfulness when they asked her to pay them back.
Sorokin maintained her ruse when she went to a bank looking for a $22 million loan in 2016. She said the loan would be secured by a letter of credit from UBS in Switzerland and showed statements regarding her assets.
One bank rejected Sorokin because she didn't have the cash flow to make payments. She dipped out on another one when they wanted a meeting with a UBS banker who could verify her assets. She did convince one bank to lend her $100,000 to cover due diligence costs. Sorokin kept $55,000 and used the rest on personal expenses in about one month. A couple of months later she charted a plane to Omaha, Nebraska, but never paid the $35,400 bill.
Sorokin was found guilty of stealing more than $200,000 from banks and friends and was convicted of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny, and a misdemeanor charge of theft of services.
Comments from Allen: This lady is an accomplished con artist. An unrepentant thief who, even when beginning her four-years-fixed, 8 years indeterminate prison sentence at Rikers Island, stated she would do it all again.
You have to give this lady credit. She has an amazingly positive attitude. As a prison inmate beginning her four-year stint at Rykers Island, she stated her time in stir would provide her an opportunity to write two books about her experiences. We say some people are famous for being famous; Anna Sorokin is famous for being infamous. Some of her victims have even cut deals with media outlets to make money from their misfortune at her hands.
I am surprised that she was not convicted of all counts against her. This woman went about defrauding everyone in sight. She was acquitted of theft of over $60,000 from a wealthy friend, Rachel Williams, after taking Ms. Williams on an all-expense-paid trip to Morocco. When the two had finished their trip, Ms Sorokin's credit card was declined; she asked Ms. Williams to put it on her card and she would reimburse her when they returned to New York. Of course, the reimbursement never came.
The basis for a fraud charge is always intent. Prosecutors look for indicators that actions which resulted in someone parting with a large sum of money were intentional and that the defendant had no intention of repaying the debt. Prosecutors did not have to look for with Ms. Sorokin. She had rented a string of botique hotel rooms in New York and had stiffed them all. She photoshopped bank records in an attempt to convince a hedge fund to lend her millions of dollars. Her story that she was going to pay everyone back once she got her "club" going in New York was meaningless, as she had no means to repay anyone and had made false statements supported by false documents to get money from others.
It is rare that someone actually has the means to pull off this kind of scam. In Sorokin's case, she apparently acquired the look and mannerisms for her fake persona from doing fashion shoots in Paris and then hanging out in high fashion circles in New York. That, and her absolute lack of empathy for her victims, and her lack of any moral compass made for a pathway to high crime.
By the way, Ms. Sorokin says her successful soakings of the rich have made her a celebrity in prison.
I have never had a client like this, and I hope I never do.
Sources for more information:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/us/anna-sorokin-found-guilty/index.html
https://time.com/5559608/anna-delvey-sorokin-trial-begins-fake-heiress/
Sorokin lived in luxury New York hotel rooms she couldn't afford and promised a friend an all-expense-paid trip abroad, but stuck her with the $62,000 bill. She also faked bank statements in an attempt to get a $22 million loan.
Sorokin is on trial for grand larceny and theft of services charges alleging she swindled various people and businesses out of $275,000 within ten months. She claimed to be a wealthy German heiress with approximately $60 million being held abroad. Prosecutor Catherine McCaw said that Sorokin was born in Russia and doesn't have a cent to her name.
Apparently, Sorokin never intended to commit a crime according to Sorokin's attorney Todd Spodek. Spodek said that she was easily seduced by the high life after she saw how the appearance of wealth opened doors for people. Supposedly she was just buying time until she could start a business and repay her debts.
Sorokin faces deportation to Germany regardless of the outcome of the trial because authorities say that she overstayed her visa.
When she first arrived in the US, she changed her name(Anna Delvey) and got a new wardrobe to prove that she belonged in the shiny new world. Sorokin would give out different accounts of how she got wealthy such as her father being a diplomat or an oil baron. In reality, he is a former truck driver who runs a heating and cooling business.
People didn't see Sorokin's red flags when she asked them to put cabs and plane fares on their credit cards. She would say that she had trouble moving her assets from Europe and they would laugh it off as forgetfulness when they asked her to pay them back.
Sorokin maintained her ruse when she went to a bank looking for a $22 million loan in 2016. She said the loan would be secured by a letter of credit from UBS in Switzerland and showed statements regarding her assets.
One bank rejected Sorokin because she didn't have the cash flow to make payments. She dipped out on another one when they wanted a meeting with a UBS banker who could verify her assets. She did convince one bank to lend her $100,000 to cover due diligence costs. Sorokin kept $55,000 and used the rest on personal expenses in about one month. A couple of months later she charted a plane to Omaha, Nebraska, but never paid the $35,400 bill.
Sorokin was found guilty of stealing more than $200,000 from banks and friends and was convicted of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny, and a misdemeanor charge of theft of services.
Comments from Allen: This lady is an accomplished con artist. An unrepentant thief who, even when beginning her four-years-fixed, 8 years indeterminate prison sentence at Rikers Island, stated she would do it all again.
You have to give this lady credit. She has an amazingly positive attitude. As a prison inmate beginning her four-year stint at Rykers Island, she stated her time in stir would provide her an opportunity to write two books about her experiences. We say some people are famous for being famous; Anna Sorokin is famous for being infamous. Some of her victims have even cut deals with media outlets to make money from their misfortune at her hands.
I am surprised that she was not convicted of all counts against her. This woman went about defrauding everyone in sight. She was acquitted of theft of over $60,000 from a wealthy friend, Rachel Williams, after taking Ms. Williams on an all-expense-paid trip to Morocco. When the two had finished their trip, Ms Sorokin's credit card was declined; she asked Ms. Williams to put it on her card and she would reimburse her when they returned to New York. Of course, the reimbursement never came.
The basis for a fraud charge is always intent. Prosecutors look for indicators that actions which resulted in someone parting with a large sum of money were intentional and that the defendant had no intention of repaying the debt. Prosecutors did not have to look for with Ms. Sorokin. She had rented a string of botique hotel rooms in New York and had stiffed them all. She photoshopped bank records in an attempt to convince a hedge fund to lend her millions of dollars. Her story that she was going to pay everyone back once she got her "club" going in New York was meaningless, as she had no means to repay anyone and had made false statements supported by false documents to get money from others.
It is rare that someone actually has the means to pull off this kind of scam. In Sorokin's case, she apparently acquired the look and mannerisms for her fake persona from doing fashion shoots in Paris and then hanging out in high fashion circles in New York. That, and her absolute lack of empathy for her victims, and her lack of any moral compass made for a pathway to high crime.
By the way, Ms. Sorokin says her successful soakings of the rich have made her a celebrity in prison.
I have never had a client like this, and I hope I never do.
Sources for more information:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/us/anna-sorokin-found-guilty/index.html
https://time.com/5559608/anna-delvey-sorokin-trial-begins-fake-heiress/
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