The real story of Anna Sorokin

Brut America

She fooled New York’s elites pretending to be a wealthy heiress, scamming her way to $275,000, a prison sentence ... and a Netflix deal.  This is the story of Anna Sorokin, which inspired the new series “Inventing Anna.”

Transcript

00:00🎵

00:26Anna came to New York, no rich parents, no connections.

00:29Sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it.

00:31🎵

00:40This is just like my life, I'm just trying to like make,

00:43like make it work and figure things out.

00:45🎵

01:13So she concocted this fake identity, Anna Delvey,

01:16uh, where she was this German heiress.

01:17She kind of like used this position, uh, this fake identity

01:20in order to, uh, kind of like live among the New York City's,

01:25uh, socialite class, the 1%, and sticking everyone else with the bill.

01:29🎵

01:47To seek funding for her foundation idea,

01:49and, you know, prosecutors would say for her own lavish lifestyle,

01:52um, she sought loans from City National Bank and Fortress Investment Group.

01:58So Anna said, you know, I'm this German heiress,

01:59I have this, uh, $60 million trust that I'm gonna get in a few years,

02:04and when that comes through, I will be able to pay you back.

02:07I just need, um, you know, a loan for the time being.

02:10🎵

02:22There's Peter Henecke, who she said was this person

02:24who managed her family finances back in Germany.

02:27He didn't exist, but she kind of just made up emails and sent them from him.

02:31At some point, she used like a voice, uh, disguiser app on her phone,

02:36uh, in order to kind of like pretend to be another person

02:39speaking with these bankers, you know, trying to convince them that this was all real.

02:43🎵

02:51So she kind of like used her, um, connections

02:55and her name-dropping abilities in order to be able to successfully scam a few different businesses.

03:00There were several hotels she stayed at for weeks.

03:02She racked up massive bills, but she gave them credit cards on file that just didn't work.

03:05🎵

03:17At some point, you know, they said, these credit cards are working, can you pay,

03:21uh, you know, she said, oh, a wire transfer is coming.

03:25But, you know, that wasn't really acceptable and she got kicked out.

03:27This happened several times to several hotels.

03:29🎵

03:34On another occasion, she, you know, took a Blade,

03:37which is kind of like an Uber for helicopters and private jets,

03:41uh, which, you know, again, she promised to pay them back.

03:44She said, oh, I know the CEO, I met him at this party,

03:47uh, and she was allowed to take this flight.

03:50🎵

04:04The men just stood in our villa and they were waiting for her to fix it.

04:07They want a credit card that works right there, right now, like, they're done waiting.

04:11Rachel ultimately offered up her card with the expectation that her wealthy friend, Anna, would pay her back.

04:17🎵

04:21It would have been easier had she just disappeared, but she kept in touch with me every day,

04:25every single day, with just excuse after excuse, fake wire confirmation numbers,

04:31um, promises of cashier's checks.

04:33🎵

04:45Um, and they kind of, like, agreed to hang out.

04:47Little did Anna know that Rachel was actually working with NYPD for a sting operation,

04:52where the Los Angeles police would arrest her at this restaurant appointment,

04:55extradite her back to New York, where she'd be slapped with more, uh, severe charges

04:59than just skipping out on that one hotel bill.

05:01🎵

05:16I don't see any indication she ever sat in jail thinking about all the cheating, the stealing,

05:22and the lying that her phony persona and lifestyle kept afloat for years.

05:27And certainly, she didn't think about the people she scammed.

05:30🎵

05:43I feel like I'm just trying to deal with, um, with consequences of my actions.

05:47I'm just trying to make the best out of my situation.

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