Her attorney, Todd Spodek, said his client sought to repay her significant debts. But she had to buy time. “Fake it until you make it,” Spodek said during opening statements in Sorokin’s trial last month, the New York Times reported. “Anna had to live by it.”<doc-sep>New York may be a city of dreams, but when they are shattered – as fake heiress Anna Sorokin found out in a Manhattan courtroom late on Thursday – they can do so spectacularly. Sorokin, a would-be art collector with plans to open a members-only arts club, carried out a lengthy and elaborate fraud on New York’s glitziest social strata under the name of Anna Delvey. On Thursday, the Russian-born 28-year-old dubbed the “Soho grifter” was found guilty of swindling hotels, restaurants, a private jet operator and banks out of more than $200,000. She faces up to 15 years in prison. Sign up for the US morning briefing But some of the charges in a case that has transfixed Manhattan society didn’t hold, including an alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain a $22m (£17m) loan, and an accusation that she had swindled $60,000 from a friend who had paid for a lavish trip to Morocco. But for the most part, a jury agreed that Sorokin had fraudulently manoeuvred herself into “the best position to take money” from a social milieu that exists in a twilight of openings and events on the periphery of a tight-knit world of wealthy art collectors, dealers and auctioneers. Prosecutors said that Sorokin’s ambition was to “live the fantasy of an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means”; her lawyers countered that her lavish presentation – court proceedings were suspended early on in the three-week trial while the defendant fussed over her choice of stylist-supplied designer outfits – were nothing more than a woman who understood that superficial glamour was key to acceptance in the circles she aspired to join. “‘Fake it until you make it,’” lawyer Todd Spodek said during opening statements in her trial last month. Spodek conceded that his client’s practice was unethical but, he claimed, not illegal because she planned to pay everyone back. “Any millennial will tell you,” he said, “it is not uncommon to have delusions of grandeur.” Sorokin had merely allowed people to believe what they wanted to believe, Spodek added. “Everyone wanted to believe she was a German heiress” because, in effect, “the rich help the rich”. Not so, countered prosecutors. Forging financial statements, establishing email addresses for a fictional accountant and a fake financial adviser are not the actions of an idle fantasist. Sorokin’s problems started when one group of financiers from whom she sought the $22m loan noticed that her passport showed she was from a Russian town despite her claim to be from Germany. But she succeeded in obtaining $100,000 from City National Bank, spending $40,000 of it on clothing and hotels, the court heard. Anna Sorokin arrives for her trial at New York state supreme court earlier this month. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP “Making up fake accountants, making up fake documents – those are not white lies,” argued the lead prosecutor, Catherine McCaw, in her summation earlier this week. “As proven at trial, Anna Sorokin committed real white-collar felonies over the course of her lengthy masquerade,” said the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, after the verdict, thanking prosecutors in his office for their “resolve to ensure that Sorokin faces real justice for her many thefts and lies”. In truth, Sorokin was nothing like the Cologne heiress with a $60m fortune she claimed to be. She was reportedly born in Russia and in 2007 emigrated to Germany where her father runs a heating and cooling business. After interning in Paris for Purple magazine, she moved to New York in 2014 with a new ambition. She upped her look to Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and settled into a life of boutique hotels and private jets, once booking one on credit to fly to Omaha, Nebraska, for an investor conference by the multibillionaire American investor Warren Buffett. “She walked into my life in Gucci sandals and Céline glasses,” wrote Rachel DeLoache Williams in a Vanity Fair account of the Moroccan trip. “And showed me a glamorous, frictionless world of hotel living and Le Coucou dinners and infra-red saunas,” she continued, referring to the New York restaurant of the internationallyacclaimed gastronomer Daniel Rose. At the centre of the alleged scam was a glossy 80-page prospectus aimed at potential investors in the “Anna Delvey Foundation”, which came with a smattering of names that would give art world insiders, some of whom became her marks, confidence to become founder-members of a private club called ADF, for the Anna Delvey Foundation. Although the jury dismissed the DeLoache-Williams claim that she was ripped off for $60,000, the Vanity Fair picture editor may find some recompense down the road: Netflix has commissioned Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the popular television show Grey’s Anatomy, to produce a series about her exploits, possibly starring Jennifer Lawrence. Sorokin’s conviction may also prove to be the price of education for Manhattan’s moneyed elite, many of whom entertained – and some came close to buying into – her tales of sophistication. But as DeLoache Williams found, Sorokin’s promises often came up short. She would offer to pay for drinks and then claim to have mislaid her credit card, proffering promises to repay. The court heard she never did. Marc Kremers, founder of a London-based design firm, Future Corp which Sorokin engaged to design the prospectus, told artnet he spent nine months trying to get paid before concluding Sorokin was a fraud. “I was just waiting for the illusion to shatter, which it did in spectacular fashion. She truly is the malignant child of the Instagram age.”<doc-sep>(CNN) — A woman was found guilty of stealing more than $200,000 from banks and friends while posing as a German heiress and scamming her way into New York society, the Manhattan District Attorney said. Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, was convicted Thursday of attempted grand larceny, three grand larceny counts and a misdemeanor charge of theft of services, District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said. She is expected to be sentenced on May 9. The 28-year-old managed to get thousands of dollars in bank loans, lived at a luxury Manhattan hotel and traveled on a private plane between November 2016 and August 2017 using bad checks and claiming she wired money for payments, court documents show. “As proven at trial, Anna Sorokin committed real white-collar felonies over the course of her lengthy masquerade,” Vance said in a statement. “I thank the jury for its service in this complex trial, as well as my office’s prosecutors and investigators for their meticulous investigation and resolve to ensure that Sorokin faces real justice for her many thefts and lies.” She was also acquitted of one count each of first-degree attempted grand larceny and second-degree grand larceny. “Our defense always focused on Ms. Sorokin’s intent, and that her actions never passed the line to ‘dangerously close’ required by law for the attempt charge,” said her attorney Todd Spodek in a text message. “I am pleased the jury focused on these issues and acquitted her of those charges.” Sorokin was accused of claiming to be a German heiress and attempting to secure a $22 million loan from City National Bank in November 2016, saying she intended to open a private club. She told bank employees her loan would be secured by a foreign bank and used false documents to prove she had multimillion-dollar accounts abroad, an indictment said. But the bank turned her down because she didn’t have enough “cash flow to make loan payments.” About a month later, Sorokin tried to get a similar loan from Fortress Investment Group. When she was asked to make a $100,000 payment to facilitate the loan, she managed to borrow that amount from City National Bank. She told the bank it “would take her too long to liquidate her assets in Germany and wire the funds to the United States” but that she would wire the money within days, the indictment said. The bank never received those funds. Sorokin also invited a friend on an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco for six days but her friend ended up paying their $62,000 bill. They stayed at a luxury villa with a private swimming pool and butler and when it was time to pay, Sorokin’s card was declined. She told her friend she would reimburse her and later sent her fake wire confirmations, the indictment said. CNN’s Jay Croft contributed to this report.<doc-sep>NEW YORK -- Anna Sorokin, the German con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle banks, hotels and even close friends as she lived out a high-society, Instagram-ready fantasy in New York, was sentenced Thursday to four to 12 years in prison. The 28-year-old, who had played with her own tabloid image during the trial by wearing stylish dresses to court, looked despondent as the verdict was announced. She pressed her hand to her face and squeezed her eyes shut, appearing to hold back tears. Judge Diane Kiesel said Sorokin had been "blinded by the glitter and glamour of New York City" as she turned to fraud to finance a life she could never afford. But the judge turned down a request by Sorokin's lawyers to sentence her to the time she has already spent in jail awaiting trial. "I am stunned by the depth of the defendant's deception," Kiesel said, adding that she hoped to send a message to Sorokin's internet following "that her behaviour is unacceptable." "Certainly she didn't think about the people she scammed," the judge added. The sentencing capped a spectacular case that drew international attention and tabloid headlines. Netflix and HBO are both working on shows based on Sorokin's audacious efforts to finagle her way into the Manhattan socialite scene. She was convicted last month on multiple counts of larceny and theft and has been in custody since her October 2017 arrest-- time behind bars that will be credited toward her sentence. The judge also ordered Sorokin to pay nearly US$200,000 in restitution and a $24,000 fine. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said it will seek to deport Sorokin to Germany following her release from state prison. Moments before she was sentenced, Sorokin briefly addressed the court, saying, "I apologize for the mistakes I made." Her defence attorney, Todd Spodek, told a gaggle of reporters that Sorokin was "holding up OK." He described the prison sentence as "expected" but said Sorokin will pursue an appeal. "She's a tough woman," Spodek said, noting she has been at Rikers Island for more than 500 days. Sorokin forged a new identity -- Anna Delvey -- and defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrities into believing she had a fortune of $67 million (60 million euros) overseas that could cover her jet-setting lifestyle , high-end clothing and lavish hotel stays. She falsely claimed her father was a diplomat or an oil baron and falsified bank records. Her ruse included an application for a $22 million loan to fund a private arts club, complete with exhibitions, installations and pop-up shops, prosecutors said. She was denied that loan but persuaded one bank to lend her $100,000 that she failed to repay. In all, prosecutors accused her of stealing some $275,000, including a $35,400 bill she failed to pay for a plane she chartered to and from the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. She went to great lengths to ensure others paid her way, even as she had "not a cent to her name, as far as we can determine," prosecutor Catherine McCaw said following Sorokin's arrest. "An ordinary person would just take coach," McCaw told Kiesel at Thursday's hearing. "The defendant did not want an ordinary life, and she was willing to steal in order to get that." The jury convicted Sorokin of four counts of theft of services, three counts of grand larceny and one count of attempted grand larceny. Jurors acquitted her of two counts, including an allegation that she promised a friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $62,000 bill. She was also found not guilty of one of the most serious charges in the indictment: attempting to steal more than $1 million from City National Bank. Spodek argued that Sorokin had been "buying time" and always intended to settle her debts. He portrayed her as an ambitious entrepreneur and said she lacked criminal intent. McCaw rejected that characterization, saying Sorokin showed "almost no remorse" throughout the proceedings. The prosecutor said Sorokin seemed to revel at the plight of her victims and showed more concern for her attire than the emotions of those she hurt.<doc-sep>
A judge has sentenced the fake German heiress Anna Sorokin to four to 12 years in prison for defrauding hotels, restaurants, a private jet operator and banks out of more than $200,000. Judge Diane Kiesel said she was “stunned by the depth of the defendant’s deception, her labyrinthine lies that kept her con afloat” at the sentencing on Thursday afternoon in Manhattan state court. As she handed down sentence, Kiesel reportedly made a reference to Bruce Springsteen’s song Blinded by the Light. “She was blinded by the glitter and glamour of New York City,” the judge said, according to BuzzFeed News. Sorokin, a would-be art collector, planned to open a members-only arts club but became known as the “Soho grifter” after her deception upon New York’s glitzy social scene came to light. Sorokin, 28, was found guilty last month of grand larceny and theft of services. During the trial she was admonished for throwing tantrums when she couldn’t get her stylist-curated outfits, and drew unflattering sketches of the lead prosecutor during testimony. But at sentencing she was humbled. Wearing a long-sleeved black dress, she told the judge: “I apologize for the mistakes I made.” Sorokin’s story became a media sensation, and she received lengthy profiles in magazines and reams of tabloid coverage. A TV series about her life was also planned. Today in Focus Anna Sorokin: the fake heiress who fooled everyone – podcast Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2020/05/05-61553-gnl.fw.200505.jf.ch7DW.mp3 00:00:00 00:27:27 At the trial, prosecutors said she overdrew a bank account and forged financial records to further the ruse that she perpetrated under the name Anna Delvey. The jury agreed she had fraudulently maneuvered herself into “the best position to take money” from a social milieu of wealthy collectors, dealers and auctioneers. Prosecutors said Sorokin’s ambition was to “live the fantasy of an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means”. But her lawyers argued that Sorokin was hardly unique in understanding that superficial glamour was key to acceptance in the circles she aspired to join. “Fake it until you make it,” explained her lawyer, Todd Spodek. He conceded that his client’s practice was unethical but, he claimed, not illegal because she planned to pay everyone back. “Any millennial will tell you,” he said, “it is not uncommon to have delusions of grandeur.” The jury rejected some of the charges against her, including an alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain a $22m (£17m) loan, and an accusation that she had swindled $60,000 from a friend who had paid for a lavish trip to Morocco. Prosecutors told the court Sorokin now has barely “a cent to her name”. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has said it will seek to deport Sorokin, who was born in Russia, to Germany following her release from state custody. Ice said Sorokin overstayed her 2017 visa.