The fraudster known as the Fake Heiress, Anna Sorokin, who was jailed for swindling banks, hotels and members of New York high society out of $275,000 (£198,699), has revealed her biggest aim is to ‘make as much money as possible.’
Sorokin, a Russian born German who moved to the US in 2013, now 30, was charged with grand larceny after she conned the New York elite for several years, pretending to be a rich heiress called Anna Delvey.
She was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for her crimes in 2019, but was released early for good behaviour on February 11 and now temporarily lives at the NoMad luxury hotel in New York.
While deportation to Germany is currently on pause while she appeals her conviction, if forced to leave the US, Delvey would reportedly call London home.
‘Watch out!’ she said, speaking to The Telegraph. ‘I love the English and I have lots of British friends. London is a bit like New York: you can always get something done.’
She went on to say she’d head straight to celebrity hot spot Chiltern Firehouse – adding it’s ‘kind of homey’ and ‘knows’ the hotel owner André Balaz.
The fraudster known as the Fake Heiress, Anna Sorokin, 30, who was jailed for swindling banks, hotels and members of New York high society out of $275,000 (£198,699), has revealed her biggest aim is to ‘make as much money as possible.’ Pictured, during her trial in May 2019
Living the high life: During her spree, Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, lived in luxury New York hotel rooms that she couldn’t afford, promised a friend an all-expenses trip to Morocco and then left her with the $62,000 bill, and peddled bogus bank statements in her quest for a $22 million loan for a private arts club. Pictured, Sorokin in an Instagram snap
Sorokin told how she first learned to try and make ‘as much money as possible’ from the tender age of nine when she began playing video game, The Sims.
‘I would create a Sim and give them as much money as possible,’ she recalled. ‘I thought it was such a waste of time to actually make your Sim go to work.
‘I would spend half an hour filling up their bank accounts with the cheat code [which enabled players to max-out their virtual bank account]. It’s a very f-d up game if you think about it.’
Since being released from prison, Sorokin now has her own book deal, a self-funded reality show called Anna Delvey, and fashion range, Correction Collection.
More recently, it’s been announced that Emma Corrin, who plays Princess Diana in Netflix hit series The Crown, will play a character inspired by her in new West End production, Anna X.
‘It’s funny how they just helped themselves to my story,’ she said. ‘I guess it’s a compliment.’
While deportation to Germany is currently on pause while she appeals her conviction, if forced to leave the US, Delvey would reportedly call London home. Pictured, Sorokin at her sentencing at Manhattan State Supreme Court in May 2019
She went on to say how she hopes the actress will visit her in New York, adding: ‘I’ll take her to Rikers. To the courthouse. To SoHo. Drinks will be on me. I feel great about her playing me – hopefully she’ll do a better job than I did.’
The fraudster admitted that she even picked up certain prison skills that she took home with her – and explained how being stuck around 40 ‘devious’ females taught her how to ‘read people.’
Sorokin’s comments come after news the fake German heiress, who was only released from prison last month, has been taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The 30-year-old was put back behind bars last Thursday after she reported to immigration authorities in Manhattan and is currently being held at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey, the New York Post reports.
After her release from prison, Sorokin – a German national – was ordered to check in with immigration authorities for overstaying her visa.
Sources said she was scheduled to be deported to Germany on March 26, the day after she handed herself in. Sorokin, however, didn’t leave the country on that day.
It is unclear if she delayed the deportation by legally challenging it. It also isn’t clear when she will be deported.
DailyMail.com has contacted ICE for comment.
Now fresh out of prison, the fraudster went back to enjoying a life of luxury shopping sprees and lined up interviews with international press
The fraudster previously told how she takes being branded a ‘sociopath’ as a compliment.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Sorokin, who refused to say whether she was ashamed of her crimes, said she was not a ‘penny pincher’ and that people who call her a ‘sociopath’ would refer to tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk in the same words.
‘I actually see it as a compliment because they see Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and Steve Jobs as sociopaths, so if they mean it in that way, I’ll take it,’ she said.
Sorokin was arrested on six charges of grand larceny in 2017 for scamming New York acquaintances and hotels. According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, her theft totals around $275,000 (£198,699).
In total, Sorokin spent 21 months in Rikers Island in New York – the prison which has housed other criminals such as Harvey Weinstein, and 20 months at Albion Correctional Facility, a prison for women in upstate New York.
She said being in prison was an intellectual challenge where she had to figure out how she could get guards to get her things without being able to offer anything in exchange.
She also said she witnessed more drugs at Rikers than on the New York party circuit.
Before her arrest, Sorokin convinced City National Bank to loan her $100,000 (£722, 54) and forged bank documents to obtain another loan of £22 million to fund the Anna Delvey Foundation, a private arts members club she hoped to open.
She said the project snowballed and that the only way to stop her was to put her in prison.
Her lawyers are currently paying her hotel bills with money she received after striking a deal with the streaming platform Netflix for $320,000 (£231,213) – most of which is being used to repay her bank loans, fines and legal fees.
Sorokin told the Times she enjoyed being in control, and was now looking for a bigger purpose to focus on.
She added she disliked being referred to as a fake heiress, and that it was not what she had set out to do when she started her streak of fraud.
‘I never felt like I came through pretending to be this heiress. There are so many rich people in New York, so who gives a f***? No one cares,’ she said, adding she’d never be able to impress with money in New York.
She referred to her crimes as cutting corners and shortcuts, but said she never expected to end up in jail for them.
While she admitted she had apologized to her parents for causing them stress, she said she felt that fraud seemed like a good idea at the time she conned hotels and friends – adding that all she can do now is face the music.
It was reported Sorokin used the prison phone to go on a shopping spree before getting out of jail, splashing on Celine sunglasses, a $720 (£520) Balenciaga hoodie and Alexander McQueen and Nike sneakers.
She said she still had some money from her Netflix deal and other projects she was working on that had not been publicized.
In her first interview since being released, she added prison was a ‘pointless’ ‘waste of time’, called the prosecution against her an ‘insult to her intelligence’ and boasted that guards treated her like a ‘celebrity’.
On Twitter, she joked that the only job she would consider is creative director of Goldman Sachs.
And within hours of her release, she asked for $720million (£520million) from Fortress Investment Group. She also said ‘going to trial is the new sex tape’.
Sorokin duped friends, hotels and even banks into giving her money between 2016 and 2017.
She pretended to be the daughter of a mysterious oil baron in Europe and lived an exorbitantly expensive lifestyle in Manhattan without ever actually paying for it.
It came crashing down in 2017 after she took a friend, a Vanity Fair photo editor, to Marrakesh with her, racked up thousands in charges at hotels and then gave the photo editor the $62,000 bill (£44,797), promising to pay her back.
Confirming she is writing a book Sorokin told Insider: ‘It’s going to be my take on the criminal justice system and my jail experience. My point is basically going to be like the pointlessness of the whole thing.
‘They just wasted everyone’s time and money.’
After cameras were seen following her around Manhattan last month, Sorokin said of ‘Anna Delvey TV’: ‘I’m just kind of filming everything I’m doing right now and I’m going to see what to do with it later.’
Explaining why she would still be using her fake name of Delvey, Sorokin added: ‘Why shouldn’t I? I’m a movement by myself.’
Sorokin had also asked fans on social media to tune in to a ‘live’ video where she promised a no-holds-barred Q&A but then disappointed them by only filming herself in the bathtub and not answering any questions.
How long Sorokin will be able to stay in the country remains a mystery. She is a German citizen and has no legal status in the US but has never been deported. ICE did not immediately respond to inquiries about her status on Monday morning.