Fake heiress: Russian Anna Annie is judged in New York
Dmitry Kurkin
The trial of Anna Sorokin began in New York: a woman who became known as Anna Delvi has been successfully posing for many months as a rich German heiress. Thanks to this, she was able to intermarry with the New York art bohemian and lead a luxurious lifestyle that was not supported by anything other than personal charm, fake screenshots of bank accounts and checks that she could not pay.
By the time she was exposed and arrested, Delvi was able to collect debts totaling 275 thousand dollars - the money in the form of loans and services she received from banks, five-star hotels, charter airlines and individuals. Among the latter was Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel Deloduche Williams, who after spending the holidays in Marrakesh with Anna had to pay a small amount from their own pocket. "She entered my life in Gucci sandals and Celine glasses and showed me the glossy world of hotel life, dining at Le Coucou (restaurant of french cuisine in new york. - Approx. Ed.), infrared saunas and vacations in Morocco. And then she made my $ 62,000 evaporate, "- Williams wrote in an article detailing her relationship with Delvi. She so authentically played the role of an eccentric, ambitious and somewhat frivolous in financial matters daughter of an oil magnate (or a diplomat, or a family whose the business is connected with the development of solar batteries, - this part of the legend did not differ in integrity), that even after the incident in Marrakesh, the photo editor did not immediately suspect a fraudster.
An adaptation of Anna Delvi's story for Netflix has already been taken up by Shonda Rimes (Anatomy of Passion, Scandal); In addition, Lena Dunham showed interest in the adventures described in Vanity Fair. However, both are clearly in a hurry, because the trial of Sorokin promises to be no less colorful.
It is known that Anna Sorokin was born in the USSR, she lived in Russia until she was sixteen years old, after which she moved with her family to Germany, where her father, despite her subsequent stories, worked as a truck driver. For a while, Sorokin trained at a German PR agency, then got a job as an intern in a Paris magazine about fashion and the art of Purple. Around this time, she took the pseudonym Anna Delvi, but a character named Anna Delvi - a philanthropist fascinated by modern art who was supposed to inherit the trust fund as soon as she was twenty-five years old - appeared after her move to New York.
If brand clothing and accessories were not enough, Delvi presented a spectacular 80-page brochure of the future art fund named after himself.
“I don’t have money and credit cards. I’m waiting for my aunt from Germany. She will pay for everything. I’m not trying to escape. Why make such a noise? Give me five minutes and I will find a friend who will pay for me,” Sorokin urged. police officer in July 2017, when she once again had problems with the payment of the hotel bill. Up to a certain point, this was the case: almost always someone of her acquaintances who could pay for her and who had no doubts that Anna Delvi would return the debt to them — after all, she treated them with oysters and champagne Dom Pérignon, easily writing checks for substantial sums. And if brand clothing and accessories, as well as an instagram account with tens of thousands of subscribers was not enough, Delvi presented a spectacular 80-page brochure of the future art fund named after herself.
About the foundation and its other idea - the "art center dedicated to contemporary art", for the discovery of which it was going to rent the historic building of the Church of the Mission House in Manhattan - Delvi always spoke enthusiastically. Perhaps this is the only true part of her legend. Perhaps she really tried to be the one who presented herself. To potential investors, it seemed to be provided by an art collector from Cologne, and as a guarantee, she presented a screenshot of the bank balance, which reflected an impressive amount of twenty million dollars. After several failures, she still managed to get a pledge of one hundred thousand dollars from one of the banks. According to investigators, more than half of this money Delvi spent just a month on personal expenses, but the private plane she had taken in May 2017 was not enough for them - this bill, like many others, was left unpaid.
"She isolated herself, and I felt lucky to be one of the few people whom she sympathized with and trusted," writes Rachel Deloduch Williams. "I already had experience, both personal and professional, familiarizing myself with lifestyle and fads people with money, even if I myself did not have a trust fund. Her world was not alien to me — I was comfortable in it — and I liked that she accepted me as a person who “understands everything”. " This partly explains why Delvi’s true solvency was far from immediate for her creditors. However, the holiday at someone else's expense could not last forever. In October 2017, Anna Sorokin was arrested.
It turned out that the obsession with luxury and status has not disappeared anywhere, even in times when any legend can be checked with a couple of clicks.
Perhaps the most striking thing is that, even when exposed, Sorokin continues to play the character she has created. At one of the first court hearings, her lawyer Spodek insisted that his client be allowed to change into a more luxurious attire than he clearly infuriated the trial judge. Later, he even hired stylist Anastacia Walker, who worked with celebrities like Courtney Love and T-Pain, to dress Sorokin for every meeting. According to him, it is absolutely necessary: "Anna's style was the driving force of her business and her life, it is part of who she is."
Spodek does not hide his defense strategy. His goal is to show that Sorokin did not do anything that other representatives of bohemian art and celebrities would not do, as a whole. "In each of us there is a little bit of Anna. Each of us is lying a little bit," the lawyer said. Invented personality? But after all, in the era of instagram everyone creates for himself one or another media image. "Pretend until you are believed"? But after all other keys in a high society have not thought up yet. Money loans by fraud? On this, Spodek presents the brochure of the Anna Delvi Foundation, calling the document a well-developed business plan.
It seems almost incredible that a well-chosen outfit is still captivating trust, and the tales of a wealthy heiress, who should receive a money transfer from day to day, are able to open many, very many doors. But the story of Anna Delvi proves that the obsession with luxury and status used by fraudsters for many centuries has not disappeared anywhere at the time when any legend can be checked with a couple of clicks.
PHOTO:Richard Drew / TASS