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 with "Inventing Anna."   Now, Anna Sorokin is expected to be deported to Germany. This is her story.

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,

01:19uh, this fake identity in order to,

01:22uh, kind of like live among the New York City's,

01:25uh, socialite class, the 1%,

01:27and sticking everyone else with the bill.

01:29🎵

01:47To seek funding for her foundation idea,

01:49and, you know, prosecutors would say,

01:50for her own lavish lifestyle,

01:52um, she sought loans from City National Bank

01:56and Fortress Investment Group.

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

01:59I have this, uh, $60 million trust

02:02that I'm gonna get in a few years,

02:04and when that comes through,

02:06I 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

02:30and sent them from him.

02:31At some point, she used, like, a voice,

02:34uh, disguiser app on her phone,

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

02:38another person speaking with these bankers,

02:41you know, trying to convince them that this was all real.

02:43🎵

02:51She kind of, like, used her, um, connections

02:55and her name-dropping abilities

02:56in order to be able to successfully scam

02:59a few different businesses.

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

03:02and she racked up massive bills,

03:03but she gave them credit cards on file

03:04that just didn't work.

03:05🎵

03:17At some point, you know, they said,

03:19these credit cards aren't working, can you pay,

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

03:25But, you know, that wasn't really acceptable,

03:26and 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

03:40and private jets, uh, which, you know, again,

03:42she promised to pay them back.

03:44She said, oh, I know the CEO.

03:46I met him at this party, uh,

03:48and she was allowed to take this flight.

03:50🎵

04:04The men just stood in our villa,

04:06and they were waiting for her to fix it.

04:07They want a credit card that works right there,

04:10right now, like, they're done waiting.

04:11Rachel ultimately offered up her card

04:14with the expectation that her wealthy friend,

04:15Anna, would pay her back.

04:17🎵

04:21It would have been easier had she just disappeared,

04:23but she kept in touch with me every day,

04:25every single day, with just excuse after excuse,

04:28fake 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

04:49working with NYPD for a sting operation,

04:52where the Los Angeles police would arrest her

04:54at this restaurant appointment,

04:55extradite her back to New York,

04:57where she'd be slapped with more, uh, severe charges

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

05:02🎵

05:16I don't see any indication she ever sat in jail

05:19without thinking about all the cheating,

05:21the stealing, and the lying

05:23that her phony persona and lifestyle

05:26kept afloat for years.

05:27And certainly, she didn't think about

05:29the people she saw.

05:30🎵

05:59I feel like I'm just trying to deal with, um,

06:02with consequences of my actions.

06:04I'm just trying to make the best out of my situation.

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