The story of the influencer who cheated New York's high society and found himself imprisoned

NEW YORK (AP) – Anna Sorokin has rubbed shoulders with celebrities and tipped $ 100, suggesting that she was a millionaire. But behind this lifestyle of high society and expensive clothing, the girl turned out to be a fraud. He cheated friends, banks and hotels, all for a good life.

Sorokin, 28, lived in luxury hotel rooms in New York that she could not afford, promised a friend a fully paid trip to Morocco, then approved the 62,000 bill. dollars and gave false bank statements. look for a $ 22 million loan.

Today, his trial began on charges of theft and theft of services. The woman claimed to have defrauded several people and businesses for $ 275,000 during a 10-month odyssey, during which she crossed the United States and Morocco.

"Her system was to badert that she was a German heiress with a fortune of about $ 60 million," said Attorney Catherine McCaw after Sorokin's arrest in October 2017. "But she was born in Russia and does not have money his name "

For his part, Todd Spodek, the woman's lawyer, tried a strange defense today. She stated that her client had no intention of committing a crime and that she had exploited the system because he had "seduced her by her prestige and ostentation." According to the lawyer, upon his arrival in the United States, Sorokin found that the appearance of wealth "opened many doors", which motivated him to undertake many scams.

For the lawyer, the woman "only earned time to start a business, after which she planned to repay her debts".

Sorokin, who is behind bars, faces a process of deportation to Germany, regardless of the outcome of the trial, as the authorities claimed he was in the country longer than expected.

The young woman arrived in the New York high society in 2016. She called Anna Delvey and wore clothes that corresponded perfectly to her invented biography: sunglbades of the French brand Céline, sandals of the Italian firm Gucci and luxury shopping from Net-a-Porter and Elyse Walker.

To prove his membership in this circle, he gave $ 100 bills to Uber drivers and hotel concierges. But she told different stories about the origin of her wealth, according to people who knew her.

According to these people, the woman reportedly repeatedly stated that her father was a diplomat, an oil tycoon or a large solar panel contractor. In real life, his father told New York magazine that he was working as a truck driver and that he currently operates a heating and air conditioning business.

For its part, Shonda Rhimes, the spirit of the award-winning series "Gray's Anatomy" and "Scandal", announced the creation of a television series on Sorokin. In her biography on Instagram, the young woman, who counts tens of thousands of followers, published at the time: "Soon on Netflix".