A girl claimed to be a millionaire and scammed friends, banks and hotels

Anna Sorokin was part of the celebrity circles and paid $ 100, actions that made her think that she was an heiress. But behind the lifestyle of high society and expensive clothes, this young woman was a fraud that cheated friends, banks and hotels, all for the good life, according to prosecutors.

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 of a $ 22 million loan, alleged the lawsuit in Manhattan.

On Wednesday, at the start of her trial for theft and services, the woman claimed to have cheated several people and businesses for $ 275,000 in a 10-month odyssey during which she crossed the United States and Morocco.

"His system claims to be a German heiress with a fortune of about 60 million dollars in foreign accounts," said prosecutor Catherine McCaw after Sorokon's arrest in October 2017. "He was born in Russia and do not have a penny in his name as far as we can determine. "

Todd Spodek, the woman's attorney, said that she had no intention of committing a crime. In his opening remarks to the jury, Spodek said that Sorokin had exploited a system that "seduced her with glamor and ostentation" after seeing how the emergence of wealth opened many doors. start a business and pay your debts.

"Anna had to pretend until she could do it," said the lawyer.

Sorokin, who has been behind bars since his arrest, is likely to be deported to Germany, regardless of the outcome of the trial, as the authorities claimed he had stayed longer than expected in the case. country. His story, however, could last.

Shonda Rhimes, the spirit behind the winning series "The anatomy of Gray"and"The scandal", announced the creation of a TV series on Sorokin, whose biography on Instagram reads" Soon in Netflix ".

Sorokin came into the world of champagne and caviar desires in 2016 with a new name (Anna Delvey) and an outfit that matched her perfectly: French designer Céline's sunglbades, Gucci's Italian sandals and Net-a-Porter and Elyse Walker.

He made a demonstration to prove his membership in this circle by giving Uber drivers and hotel concierges $ 100 bills. But she told different stories about the origin of her wealth, according to people who knew her.

According to these people, he allegedly claimed that his father was a diplomat, an oil mogul and a major solar 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.

Michael R. Sisak | AP