[Music]
this is just like my life i'm just
trying to like make
like make it work and figure things out
in the mid-2010s the new york social
scene was taken by storm by the arrival
of anna delvey a german heirs whose
father made his money constructing solar
panels
or from the oil business or antiques
no one was really sure where anna got
her fortune leaving many of her
acquaintances to guests some thought she
was the daughter of a russian diplomat
while others thought she was german
royalty she gained even more attention
from her instagram account which had
over 40 000 followers showing her
arrival on the new york scene in her
glamorous lifestyle when people met
delby she told them that she was an era
set up to inherit close to 60 million on
her 25th birthday
anna would often mention the anna delphi
foundation a members-only art club she
wanted to open and how she couldn't wait
until she turned 25 and received her
trust fund anna wormed her way into
attending events hosted by new york's
wealthy and often hosted her own private
dinners in order to make social and
business connections her crowd seemed to
be mostly the younger elites of new york
city who anna wooed with her fashion
sense in air of class and exclusivity
she was always seen wearing designer
labels like acne valenciaga celine and
supreme and made sure people knew that
designer labels were nothing out of the
ordinary for her
people who met anna often noted that she
was rude and would make comments that
were classist not racist she acted as if
she had grown up in a lap of luxury and
did not know how to interact with normal
people she wasn't friendly and had an
air of superiority about her she often
called people peasants and would ask
people to their faces whether they were
broke broke people should never laugh
anna set her sights on the historic
church missions house on park avenue
south she used her friendship with
gabrielle calatrava the son of a famous
architect to try and secure a lease on
the over 30 thousand square foot
building
anna's goal was for the annandale
foundation to be a high-class hub for
social connections and arts appreciation
she promised well-known artists like
jeff koons would exhibit there amongst
other grandiose plans while people
thought it was all a bit much and had no
idea where anna would get the money to
afford this it and i quote made sense in
a new york kind of way anna told richie
notar one of the founders of nobu that
her family was big in germany and they
would be in part financially backing
this project for her she had met with
notar to discuss adding a restaurant and
bakery inside of the anna delby
foundation notar was interested because
he wanted someone to bring high culture
back to new york city he was impressed
by delby's drive following and
relationships with the upper crest of
new york she acquired at such a young
age remember anna was only 23 at the
time and it made winsor feel as if she
was legit and he could trust her to
revive the city
to secure the church missions house
they'll be needed to raise over 20
million dollars and initially sought out
help from private investors to raise the
25 million dollars in capital needed to
start the anna delby foundation but
eventually decided against it because
she did not want to be told what to do
by these investors she photoshopped
documents to get a swiss loan claiming
she was worth 60 million dollars and had
assets overseas that could prove she
would make good on repaying a 22 million
dollar loan she was able to sign a deal
with the well-known new york city law
firm after signing a document stating
that she both had assets to pay for the
project and would not do anything to
ruin the reputation of the firm and i
also led the firm to believe that while
she had the money to get the foundation
off the ground her assets were tied up
overseas and this could be verified by a
swiss bank anna also tried to seek
donations from her famous friends who
were usually less friends and more
people that she had invited to dinner
once or twice dj ld who met anna in 2014
recalled a party and invited her and her
boyfriend too when they showed up it was
silent and awkward and anna and most of
the guests were on their phones it was
evident to l that anna didn't know any
of her guests very well and her guests
barely knew each other she also said
that anna was unfriendly and recalled
another night on one of their first
meetings where she caught anna sleeping
in her car after not having anywhere
else to stay for the night
dee thought that if anna was truly the
wealthy heir she claimed to be she would
have had no problem booking a room for
the night a couple months later delby
called z and claimed her credit card
wasn't working when she tried to check
out of her hotel room she asked that dee
put the 35 000 euro bill on her card and
would pay her back when they got back to
new york city
dj ld respectfully declined in 2015
delby met michael joo fu huang a wealthy
arts collector and founder of beijing's
m woods museum like anna he was well
connected and had a massive fortune at a
young age huang noticed quickly that
anna only ever paid for her items with
cash on a trip to venice anna asked him
to book their flights and hotel on his
card and said that she would pay him
back later which she never did michael
assumed delby wasn't paying him back not
because she didn't have the funds to but
because she simply forgot it was common
of anna to ask people to put expenses on
their credit cards even things as simple
as taxi rides and then she would offer
to pay them back in cash if she paid
them back at all
in between her stints at lavish hotels
anna couch served and lived in her
friend's apartments and didn't pay them
back for her stay even after agreeing to
do so people often assumed she was a
busy and wealthy heiress who simply
didn't have time to pay people back or
forgot to due to other obligations it
was only after several failed attempts
to get their money back that people
would begin to question delby's
legitimacy in january of 2017 michael
was invited to anna's 26th birthday
party held at a restaurant called
sedel's in soho despite having turned 25
the previous year anna still hadn't
received her 60 million dollar
inheritance she invited a lot of other
wealthy young successful people to
celebrate with her and hired a pr firm
to promote and organize the party
after pictures of huang and delby were
posted to instagram the pr firm
contacted huang and asked for delby's
contact information because she'd never
paid her bill
after realizing delby still owed him
money for the venice trip juan came to
the conclusion that delby was lying
about who she was and about her wealth
the pr company later received the money
from an unknown venmo account
in february of that same year anna
checked into new york city's eleven
howard hotel which cost over four
hundred dollars a night it was unusual
for people other than celebrities or
heiresses to stay for an extended amount
of time
since the hotel was relatively new and
delvie had a glowing reputation in new
york 11 howard never asked delby to
provide credit card information to
acquire her room
selby eventually came close friends with
concierge nefertari davis who was around
her age and looking to break into
filmmaking anna would come to davis desk
and ask about places to eat and places
to go and would pay her a hundred
dollars in cash each time their
relationship turned into somewhat of a
friendship when davis realized they'll
be one of the listening ear not
necessarily advice on where to eat or
hang out during her stay at 11 howard
delby earned the reputation of being a
generous tipper giving hotel staff and
others a hundred dollar bill every time
they helped her with even the simplest
of tasks
the longer she stayed in new york the
larger anna circle grew she had famous
friends like billy mcfarland another
scammer and macaulay culkin she
continued to host dinners and make
connections to gain funding and support
for the anna delby foundation she
likened it to the soho house when people
asked her for details delby said she
also planned for locations in la london
and hong kong she eventually took
nefatari on as a secretary nefatari also
called neff was treated to luxurious
dinners manicures and shopping sprees
all in anna's dime she was always awed
by how much money anna had and how she
would spend it like she had an unlimited
amount zelby even tried to convince
sneffs to break up with her boyfriend by
offering to finance nef's first film
something her boyfriend had promised to
do first anna also hired a personal
trainer and life coach that would
encourage her to project confidence and
help her succeed in her business skills
she became part of delvie's dwindling
friend group though she took on a more
motherly role to anna and tried to
support her in her endeavors to get the
anna delvey foundation off the ground
by april of 2017 anna's friend group had
become noticeably smaller her trainer
noticed that anna seemed lonelier than
ever before things with her social club
seemed to be rocky and anna began to
spend less time partying and more time
argued with lawyers and investors over
whether it was possible for the anna
delby foundation to come to fruition it
seemed anna's house of cards was about
to fall
one night when anna and neff were out
for dinner anna provided the wait staff
with a list of 12 credit card numbers
all of which were declined this stuck
neff with a nearly 300 bill that she
couldn't really afford but paid for
anyway thinking it was her turn to
return the favor of all the free gifts
and dinners anna had given her
soon after nef was informed by her
manager that 11 howard still did not
have a credit card on file for delby the
hotel had agreed to accept the wire
transfer for the initial funds with the
promise that she would soon provide
credit card information for future funds
delby never transferred the money and
had run up a bill of almost thirty
thousand dollars between her hotel stay
and frequent meals from lake cuckoo the
hotel's high-end restaurant
anna told the hotel the money would come
soon but she was informed that if it did
not she would be locked out of her room
somehow mysteriously 11 howard did
receive a wire transfer for the money on
zelda's behalf likely due to her
depositing fraudulent checks still
delvie failed to provide credit card
information to the hotel to cover future
charges she was locked out of her room
while she was out of town for a meeting
she claimed would also be attended by
warren buffett in may of 2018 delby
planned a trip to morocco with neff her
trainer and rachel williams a photo
editor for vanity fair she had met
through mutual friends they were going
to stay at the luxurious hotel la mamuna
and the trip would cost seven thousand
dollars a night when her friends
expressed reservations over not being
able to afford the trip delvie assured
them that she would pay for everything
rightfully so neville was convinced by
her mother to sit the trip out
zelvey booked the flights for herself
rachel and her trainer but asked rachel
to use her own credit card and delby
promised she would reimburse her
thinking nothing of it rachel agreed
while in morocco anna ran up a 1300
charge while shopping when her car
declined she claimed it was because she
forgot to tell her bank she was
traveling abroad
she asked rachel to put the bill on her
credit card to which rachel agreed
days into the trip the hotel managers
cornered anna and rachel and said that
if they could not provide a working
credit card to pay for the trip they
would be arrested this was news to
rachel as she assumed zelby had things
under control
anna then called the trainer for help
who had left the trip early due to food
poisoning the trainer booked delby a
first class trip back to new york city
and upon her return anna moved her
belongings from 11 howard to the beekman
hotel rachel williams ended up footing
the 62 000 bill on her annex card the
cost of the trip was more than her
yearly salary at vanity fair anna never
made good on her promises to pay rachel
back it was such a
complex paralyzing moment for me she
owed me more money than i made in a year
i'm late with my rent i'm late with my
credit card payments i'm like in a lot
of trouble
back in new york city delvey was kicked
out of the beekman hotel for failing to
pay a nearly twelve thousand dollar bill
after running the same scam on the w
hotel anna was caught again kicked out
and basically left homeless both the
beakman and the w pressed charges
against anna anna promised everyone once
she signed the lease for the church
missions house she would have enough
money to pay everyone back however anna
was later told that the building had
been rented already and her plans for
the anna delby foundation imploded
leaving her no way to return the
thousands of dollars she had grifted
from people
anna's crimes included falsifying the
statement to secure the swiss loan and
depositing bad checks and withdrawing as
much cash as possible before she was
caught
selfie would beg banks for credit line
extensions by promising the bank she
would pay the money back quickly and she
would use these extensions to withdraw
money for wire transfers she would use
to pay off other debts
anna also attempted to pay people off or
prove she had the funds to pay them by
giving them fake wire transfer receipts
by now it was evident that anna delvey
was not a german heiress and she
certainly wasn't wealthy so who was this
young european woman who turned new york
city upside down anna delby's real name
is anna sorokin she was born in russia
and moved to germany as a teenager her
father was a truck driver who eventually
worked in hvac her mother owned a
convenience store the sorokin family was
comfortably middle class but anna wanted
more from life she eventually left
germany to attend college in london
returning before she graduated to work
for a fashion company in berlin her
parents supported her living expenses
during this time as anna convinced them
that this would be a great investment
into her future
it was when she went to paris to enter
in for french magazine named purple that
anna sorokin began to call herself anna
delby and the rest was history anna was
arrested in october of 2017 after being
set up by rachel williams with the help
of the police she was arrested on counts
of attempted grand larceny and theft of
services she scammed people out of
nearly 275
000
anna refused to accept the plea deal and
pled not guilty she was held without
bail on rikers island sarokin said that
if people really wanted to see whether
she had any money she should have been
given the chance to post bail
for the trial sarokin's attorney hired
her a personal stylist for her court
appearances saying it was important that
she looked perfect for court
her defense tried to paint anna as a
european immigrant who achieved the
american dream by making rich friends
and creating a life for herself most
could only dream of even if it was only
temporary he conveniently skirted around
her scamming people to get the money
anna often would not want to enter the
courtroom or would ask to push her trial
dates back if she didn't like her outfit
anna was sent to prison in april of 2019
on a four to 12 year sentence she was
found guilty of second-degree larceny
theft of services and first-degree
attempted grand larceny she was found
not guilty on the charges from her
actions against rachel williams and
therefore was not legally responsible
for returning the 62 000
rachel had paid for their trip to
morocco
anna insists that there was nothing fake
about her plans for the anna delby
foundation and that had she gotten the
money she would have followed through on
her plans for the club
she was interested in truly creating a
name for herself in the new york and
never wanted to be known as a socialite
but instead of someone who used their
money to contribute to society sorokin
admitted her obsession was likely with
power not with money or social
connections anna said she doesn't regret
any of her experiences including going
to prison
she said it shaped who she was as a
person and realized it could bring her
opportunities in the future the question
that remains is why it was so easy for
anna serokin to scan some of the
wealthiest and most well-connected
people in new york city there are people
who would wonder how you were able to go
into these places and and for people to
assume that you had the money
do you think it was because you're a
young white woman definitely
anna wasn't known for being especially
charming or attractive but she acted
sure of herself and she played the part
of an era so well minnie never
questioned her anna gave off the outward
appearance of wealth so much so that
when her actions or words didn't match
the picture she had painted for herself
people ignored it because people assumed
sorokin had money they never made her
verify this until it was too late
sarokin said if people assume that just
because she was pulling out 100 bills
that she had a lot of money that that
was their problem i guess it was also
their fault for believing she had money
when she constantly mentioned having a
60 million dollar inheritance
society makes assumptions about people
based on their appearances whether
they're nice honest good bad or
criminals and this almost never tells
the full story of someone's character or
intentions
since sorokin looked like she could
afford to pay for things and just like
she simply didn't want to at the moment
anna convinced people to extend her
blind trust based on little more than
her outward appearance and persona
people commented on her alluring
european accent that couldn't quite be
placed which added to this elegant
persona of wealth and class that they
wrongfully associated with anna anna
used common tactics influencers also use
in order to reinvent herself like
sorokin influencers make people believe
that they have lavish lives through many
of the same methods renting vehicles
faking photos of first-class flights and
taking out loans or borrowing money from
people that they may or may not pay back
in order to craft the illusion that
they're living the lux life
influencers thrive off of acting as if
they have more money than they do by
showing off an abundance of material
goods and lavish trips and dinners
influencers often fail to show off their
financial reality or discuss the things
they have to do in order to achieve the
lifestyle that they pretend to have
social media allows you to reinvent
yourself and this persona eventually
must carry into real life once the
person gains enough popularity when they
met her anna could give people the
illusion of exclusivity something we all
desire we desire to be seen as separate
from others and as if we have access to
people and places others can only dream
of we desire to inspire envy and those
on the outside looking in at our lives
especially in cities as cutthroat and
appearance based as new york city people
want to be seen as having cool people in
their circle and often do little vetting
beyond how the person looks and dresses
the trick to getting into any exclusive
setting is simply acting like you belong
which people often don't question if you
can play the part well enough
anna used this to her advantage and
reinvented herself so much that anna
sorokin no longer existed she was anna
delby anna was released from jail in
february 2021 she's now in the scammer
hall of fame along with the likes of
billy mcfarlane and elizabeth holmes
she's achieved a cult-like following of
those who say she did nothing wrong and
the wealthy people she scanned got what
they deserved for falling into her trap
without doing their due diligence anna
is currently in custody of ice awaiting
her deportation back to germany which
she says would be worse than returning
to prison
in 2021 an episode on sarokin was
featured in hbo's generation hustle a
donkey series based around scams cooked
up in the past decade
sorokin sold her life rights for 320 000
a measly amount compared to the
lifestyle anna delvey was living before
to netflix to create a scripted series
on her life headed by shonda rhimes
sorokin maintains that she did nothing
wrong she's had a pretty unapologetic
attitude in regards to the situation and
admitted she regrets nothing
after all if people were willing to part
with their money in order to give it to
a stranger that wasn't really her fault
she said meeting the wealthy people she
did showed her that people with money
aren't as smart as society gives them
credit for being and they're often more
obsessed with appearances than substance
she says her plans for the nsw
foundation were legit and had the
foundation existed everyone would have
been paid back
the truly wealthy treat people out of
money on a regular basis very few of
whom have had actual plans to use their
money to add anything to their community
sarokin says she hopes to eventually
rewrite the narrative that she is some
dumb greedy person as in her opinion it
is far from the truth so are you sort of
milking your crime for the fame no
definitely not do you feel badly do you
have regrets i feel like i'm just trying
to deal with um with consequences of my
actions
um i was young i would not repeat my
actions i'm just trying to make the best
out of my situation