How Did Anna Delvey Make Her Money?

How Did Anna Delvey Make Her Money? Anna Delvey was born Anna Vadimovna Sorokin in Domodedevo, Russia on January 23, 1991. She moved around Europe for a few years before moving to the United States in 2013.

Most people know Sorokin from the Netflix series Inventing Anna. The story of Inventing Anna covers several years of Sorokin’s life during her early- to mid-20s when she posed as a socialite and conned several hotels, banks, financial institutions, and wealthy New Yorkers out of money and assets.

Anna Sorokin has repaid many of her victims, but she maintains that she did nothing wrong. She has also stated that she doesn’t feel as if she did anything wrong.

Her lawyer maintained that she could have repaid her debts had her foundation been funded and successful. According to his argument, she was essentially “faking it until she made it.”

Anna Delvey Netflix

Inventing Anna is based on a work of long-form journalism written by Jessica Pressler in 2019. The adaptation mixes interviews between Pressler and Delvey with acted scenes from Delvey’s life.

Netflix released all nine episodes of Inventing Anna on February 11, 2022. The production included:

  • Julia Garner as Anna Delvey.
  • Anna Chlumsky as the reporter covering Anna’s story.
  • Arian Moayed, a trial lawyer who is initially taken in by Anna’s charisma but ultimately exposes her in court.
  • Katie Lowes, a former friend who helped expose Anna after realizing the fake heiress had defrauded her of more than $60,000.

Several members of the cast were nominated for awards, including Primetime Emmy Awards and Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Unfortunately, none of the actors won the awards.

Is Anna Delvey A True Story?

The story about Anna Delvey defrauding multiple socialites, hotels, banks, and financial institutions is true. She was found guilty of her crimes.

With that said, aspects of the Netflix series Inventing Anna were created for dramatic effect and storytelling.

Some of the most ostentatious moments from the series, however, are true. For example, Anna refused to appear in court dressed in a prison jumper. Instead, she demanded that her lawyer secure a makeup artist and give her access to a wardrobe that included items from collections by Michael Kors, Saint Laurent, and Victoria Beckham.

On one day of her trial, she refused to enter the courtroom because her civilian clothes had not been pressed. She cried and threw a temper tantrum. Eventually, the judge forced her to come into the courtroom.

The Netflix story also gives a fairly accurate portrayal of how Anna Sorkin defrauded her victims.

She convinced many people around her that she was a wealthy heiress who received a large allowance from her family. She would also recruit hotel employees by paying them large tips. Her sense of fashion, ability to use her existing cash to make herself appear wealthy, and circle of rich New York City socialites convinced a lot of people and institutions that she had enough wealth to repay them.

In reality, she was often on the verge of poverty and relied on cons to live like an excessively wealthy person. She even took residence in a wealthy socialite’s home while she worked on building a foundation.

She used the socialite’s connections to defraud high-priced clothing stores and present herself as a financial equal to other wealthy people.

How Did Anna Sorokin Get Caught?

Anna Sorokin got caught defrauding hotels, banks, financial institutions, and individuals in 2017.

She was arrested by NYPD with help from her former friend Rachel DeLoache Williams. Sorokin had previously defrauded Williams of $57,000. Sorokin was accused of defrauding organizations and individuals of $275,000.

In 2019, a jury convicted Sorokin of:

  • Attempted grand larceny.
  • Theft of services.
  • Larceny in the second degree.

She was sentenced to serve 4 to 12 years in prison. However, she only served two years before US Immigration and Customs Enforcement began processing her for deportation to Germany, where she has had citizenship since 2007.

Later, she was released to home incarceration on a $10,000 bond. She also cannot use social media until released from house arrest.

How Did Anna Delvey Make Her Money?

Anna Delvey pretended she was the heiress to a $60 million fortune. She played the role well enough to trick wealthy New York socialites into accepting her as one of their own.

She also used her connections and fraudulent clout to convince a financial institution to lend her money so she could create an arts foundation that would support women.

In reality, Delvey didn’t have much money of her own. She used what she had to tip hotel employees lavishly. This approach earned her special treatment at a hotel where she never paid her bills.

She also used the well-connected hotel employees to further her financial and social interests. For example, she found that she could use the concierge to secure reservations at exclusive restaurants, where she could meet and prey on other rich New Yorkers.

Excessive tipping also helped protect Sorokin from getting kicked out of the hotel. When the manager would talk about removing her from the property, some employees would come to her defense because they did not want to lose the large sums of money she would give them for menial tasks.

Netflix paid Sorokin $320,000 for her story rights. About $200,000 of that money went toward repaying her victims. She also used $24,000 to pay state fines.

How Long Did Anna Delvey Actually Serve?

Anna Delvey was sentenced to spend 4 to 12 years in prison. During her time at Rikers Island, she accumulated 13 citations for fighting and failing to obey orders.

She spent one Christmas in solitary confinement. Despite her behavior, she was released after serving only 2 years of her sentence.

After being released on parole, Sorokin had to remain in her NYC apartment under house arrest. She must wear an ankle monitor that would alert authorities if she leaves the apartment.

What Does Anna Delvey Do Now?

Anna Delvey is imprisoned in her New York City apartment. However, she has developed at least one scheme to generate money during her home incarceration.

In 2022, she released 10 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that would give owners exclusive access to her.

Delvey has also used her connections to the art world to sell pieces she created while imprisoned at Rikers Island.

Where Is Anna Sorokin Today?

Anna Sorokin currently lives in her New York City apartment, where she’s under house arrest.

It’s possible that ICE could deport her to Germany at any time. So far, the federal agency has not made significant moves toward this action.

Home incarceration might make them see her as a low-priority case. The agency might also want her to remain in the United States until she has repaid all of her victims.

How Much Money Does Anna Sorokin Have?

It’s difficult to know how much money Anna Sorokin has. It’s unlikely that she has much, though. Most of the money she got from Netflix went to repaying her victims.

At most, she might have about $100,000. She would need this money to pay for her apartment and living essentials.

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