Did You Hear About the Fake Heiress Who Swindled N.Y.’s Elite? Fake It Till You Make It
In 2016, Beyoncé, one of the most famous singer/songwriters in all of history, dropped her sixth studio album “Lemonade,” a collection of songs that many of her listeners agree is her best work yet. One of the tracks from that album, “Formation,” features the lyrics, “I see it, I want it/I stunt, yellow bone it/I dream it, I work hard/I grind till I own it.” While Beyoncé’s anthem about one’s identity and the value of hard work set the tone for listeners at the time of its release, it failed to reach one particular New York dweller, then 25-year-old Anna Sorokin. After a jury found her guilty of second-degree grand larceny, theft of services, and first-degree attempted grand larceny, the world came to know Ms. Sorokin by her given name. But prior to her arrest, she was known by members in the upper echelon of Manhattan society by another name: Anna Delvey. Anna grew up in a middle-class family from Russia. She left home for an internship in Paris and then relocated to New York in 2014. Fascinated by the “lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Anna elbowed her way into Manhattan's bustling social scene armed with a new identity. She was Anna Delvey, a wealthy German heiress with a trust fund worth 60 million euros.
With her goal of opening a members-only art club on Park Avenue — a 40 million dollar project — Anna forged financial statements and
requested loans from hedge funds and banks. She even created a fictional accountant and financial advisor with fake email addresses that were traced back to her own personal email. While Anna failed in this goal, she did manage to convince a City National Bank executive to give her a line of credit for $100,000, which she squandered on five-star hotels, expensive clothing, and $100 tips doled out to room service. After three years and hundreds of unpaid hotel and restaurant bills, Anna was arrested after racking up and spending $275,000 from her unsuspecting rich friends, acquaintances, and financial institutions. While Anna is facing up to 15 years in prison for her second-degree grand larceny charge, her story continues through the making of a Netflix series about her swindling antics directed by Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. All of this goes to show that if New York is the city of dreams, Anna was right where she needed to be.
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