Anna Delvey has reportedly been released from custody and deported to Germany

UPDATE: It was announced this evening that, despite plans to deport her Anna Sorokin this morning and being listed as “released” from ICE detention, Sorokin remains in the detention centre and she awaits her appeal in April. Even her lawyer, who had been fighting for her to remain in the country while her case was still being processed, was unclear whether she had been deported or not. “Rumors are swirling today, and I hadn’t heard from her this afternoon, which is our normal practice,” he told the New York Post.

Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) became somewhat of a household name this year after a new Shonda Rhimes series about her escapades landed on Netflix. Convicted of theft and larceny in 2019, the fake “heiress” has spent the past year in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody awaiting deportation for overstaying her visa – and it seems her day of reckoning has finally come. 

Reportedly released from the upstate New York detention centre where she was being held, a source told The New York Post that she was due to board a flight to Frankfurt last night. 

Two other sources “familiar with the situation” confirmed the same to Insider, with an attorney for Sorokin saying that she was scheduled to be removed from jail at 2 pm local time before being put on a plane headed for Germany. “Around that time, jail authorities drained her commissary funds and disabled the account she used for video calls,” the article continues. 

Last month, Sorokin’s appeals to remain in the U.S. were denied by the U.S. Justice Department Board of Immigration Appeals, which essentially “cleared the way for U.S. immigration authorities to deport her”. Manny Arora, a lawyer representing Sorokin, later told Insider that his client is within a 30-day period in which she can appeal the decision. According to him, it is “not legally appropriate” for her to be deported before March 17, ultimately, however, the ICE “can do whatever they want”. 

“Since there is nothing pending before the Board, the applicant’s stay of removal, granted on Nov. 30, 2021, is no longer warranted and will be withdrawn. The stay will be denied,” an immigration appeals judge wrote in the decision, a copy of which was subsequently obtained by Insider. Naturally, Delvey is “furious” about the deportation. 

The backstory

For those of you who haven’t watched the Netflix series, Delvey is a self-proclaimed German heiress who was indicted for allegedly scamming people, businesses, and executives out of $275,00 in a 10-month period. In 2017, she was indicted on six counts of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, as well as theft of services. 

However, it wasn’t until Rachel DeLoache Williams, a photo editor at Vanity Fair, published an essay detailing being taken advantage of – to the tune of $62,000 – by Delvey that her true con artist ways came to light.

The Cut then followed up with an extensive account of Delvey’s scams and thus the internet obsession began. 

What exactly happened?

The then 25-year-old began her scams in 2016. She was born in Russia but lived in Germany before moving to the U.S. Delvey claimed she had moved to the city to open the Anna Delvey Foundation, which was meant to be a “dynamic visual arts centre”, complete with pop-up shops, art, restaurants, a bakery, and a juice bar, based on the Soho House model. Sound familiar? That’s because Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland based his Manhattan Magnises clubhouse on the same thing.

Delvey told people she was from Cologne, even though her German wasn’t particularly good. She hosted dinner parties with guests including Macaulay Culkin. She stayed in $400 a night hotels and frequently was seen waving money around. She was always spotted out in head-to-toe in designer brands and famously paid for everything in cash. She grew close to Williams and a friend who documented her seemingly wealthy lifestyle in her article.

Things changed when it emerged that Delvey was asking pals to borrow cash and that she had falsified documents and attempted to take out a $22 million loan, after claiming she had  €60 million in Swiss accounts. She was awarded €100,000 from them but then used wire transfers to pay for her hotel stays – only the wires never contained any money. She claimed she had a financial adviser who would correspond on her behalf and that she was able to maintain her lifestyle as she was in receipt of a trust fund.

She was eventually arrested in October 2017 in California.

What happened next?

Trial proceedings wrapped up – and they were strange. She had a courtroom stylist, and rejected a plea deal that would have seen her only serve a few months in jail if she voluntarily returned to Germany and plead not guilty to all charges. A jury found her guilty of second-degree grand larceny, theft of services, and one count of attempted grand larceny. She served a sentence of just three years for her crimes and now has reportedly been deported back to Germany despite an appeal to stay in the U.S.

U.S. prosecutors say, “She has not a cent of her own to her name as far as we can determine.”

Sorokin’s attorney said she never intended to commit a crime though.

Lawyer Todd Spodek told jurors in an opening statement that Sorokin exploited a system “easily seduced by glamour and glitz” after she saw how the appearance of wealth opened doors. Spodek said she was merely buying time, so she could launch a business and repay her debts.

“Anna had to fake it until she could make it,” Spodek said.

U.S. immigration authorities said in March they had detained Sorokin, who remained in New Jersey’s Bergen County Jail days after she was scheduled to be deported to her native Germany.

The 30-year-old was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, but prior to this, in an interview with the BBC, she says she was portrayed the wrong way.

“The prosecution totally misrepresented my motives. They said I paraded around New York, posing as an heiress. What happened was strictly between me and financial institutions, it was none of their business. They portrayed me as a wannabe socialite party girl and that was never my goal,” she said. “I always was Anna Delvey.”

“[Others] portrayed me as someone very manipulative, which I don’t think I am,” she says. “I was never too nice of a person. I was never trying to talk my way into anything. I just told people what I wanted and they gave it to me, or I would move on.”

The Netflix treatment

If you think this all sounds too bizarre to be true and has the makings of a Netflix Original, then you’d be right. TV legend Shonda Rimes recently brought the scam to Netflix as part of her estimated $100 million deal with the streaming service with Ozark star Julia Garner taking on the role of Anna and Anna Chlumsky (OG My Girl) as journalist Vivian Ken (a character inspired by real-life journalist Jessica Pressler)t

As per the Netflix description of the series: 

“In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York’s social scene – and stole their money as well. But is Anna New York’s biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey? The series is inspired by the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler, who also serves as a producer.”

In 2018, the streaming giant reportedly agreed to pay Sorokin $100,000 for that story, plus $7,500 royalty and a $15,000-per-episode consulting fee. But if the state of New York has any say in the matter, Sorokin won’t see any of it for herself.

She reportedly got $30,000 upfront in the deal, most of which allegedly went to her lawyer for fees. The state Attorney General’s Office is apparently not going to ask for that money back. It is reportedly keeping the rest of the $100,000 in escrow, trying to invoke a “Son of Sam” law: the name for any law that seeks to prevent criminals from profiting off their crimes.

Delvey is – or was until very recently, at least – still making money moves and gaslighting the public from her cell though. Four weeks ago she tried to start a $10,000 minimum bidding war from her Instagram account to reveal who the real ‘Chase’ is. 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbAucQgPVi0/

Not only that, but she also spoke to Julia Fox on her Forbidden Fruits podcast,  and is believed to be the guest of honour on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast this week too… so looks like she’s still capitalising off her newfound fame. 

Scams, it seems, are now something of a ‘thing’. Fyre Festival, Elizabeth Holmes — and now an NYC socialite and her tale have gotten the Netflix treatment. I heard about her in a book called My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams (the audio version is a must-listen) and now, I can’t get her story out of my head.

Anna Delvey (real name Sorokin), a self-proclaimed German heiress was indicted for allegedly scamming people, businesses, and executives out of $275,000 in a 10-month period. The 27-year-old was indicted on six counts of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, as well as theft of services, in 2017.

However, it wasn’t until Williams, a photo editor at Vanity Fair, published an essay detailing being taken advantage of — to the tune of $62,000 — by Delvey that her con artist ways came to light.

Many will remember when The Cut followed up with an extensive account of Delvey’s scams — and thus, the internet obsession began.

What exactly happened?

The then 25-year-old began her scams in 2016. She was born in Russia but lived in Germany before moving to the US. Delvey claimed she had moved to the city to open the Anna Delvey Foundation, which was meant to be a “dynamic visual arts centre“, complete with pop-up shops, art, restaurants, a bakery, and a juice bar, based on the Soho House model. Sound familiar? That’s because Fyre Festival fraudster Billy McFarland based his Manhattan Magnises clubhouse on the same thing.

Delvey told people she was from Cologne, even though her German wasn’t particularly good. She famously hosted dinner parties with guests including Macaulay Culkin. She stayed in $400 a night hotels and frequently was seen waving money around. She was always spotted out in head-to-toe in designer brands and famously paid for everything in cash. She befriended Williams and a friend who documented her seemingly wealthy lifestyle in her article.

Things changed when it emerged that Delvey was asking friends to borrow cash and also that she had falsified documents and attempted to take out a $22 million loan, after claiming she had  €60 million in Swiss accounts. She was awarded €100,000 from them but then used wire transfers to pay for her hotel stays – only the wires never contained any money. She claimed she had a financial adviser who would correspond on her behalf and that she was able to maintain her lifestyle as she was in receipt of a trust fund.

She was eventually arrested in October 2017 in California.

What happened next?

Trial proceedings wrapped up – and they were strange. She had a courtroom stylist, and rejected a plea deal that would have seen her only serve a few months in jail if she voluntarily returned to Germany (she’ll serve time in the US  but will be deported otherwise after overstaying on an expired visa) and plead not guilty to all charges. A jury found her guilty of second-degree grand larceny, theft of services, and one count of attempted grand larceny. She served a sentence of just three years for her crimes and is facing deportation back to Germany but says she will appeal this and hopes to stay in the U.S.

“She has not a cent of her own to her name as far as we can determine,” according to US prosecutors.

Sorokin’s attorney said she never intended to commit a crime.

Lawyer Todd Spodek told jurors in an opening statement that Sorokin exploited a system “easily seduced by glamour and glitz” after she saw how the appearance of wealth opened doors. Spodek said she was merely buying time, so she could launch a business and repay her debts.

“Anna had to fake it until she could make it,” Spodek said.

U.S. immigration authorities said in March they had detained  Sorokin, who remained in New Jersey’s Bergen County Jail days after she was scheduled to be deported to her native Germany.

The 30-year-old was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, but prior to this, in an interview with the BBC, she says she was portrayed the wrong way.

“The prosecution totally misrepresented my motives. They said I paraded around New York, posing as an heiress. What happened was strictly between me and financial institutions, it was none of their business. They portrayed me as a wannabe socialite party girl and that was never my goal,” she said. “I always was Anna Delvey.”

The Netflix treatment

If you think this all sounds too bizarre to be true and has the makings of a Netflix Original, then you’d be right. TV legend Shonda Rimes has brought the scam to Netflix as part of her estimated $100 million deal with the streaming service with Ozark star Jila Garner taking on the role of Anna and Anna Chlumsky (OG My Girl) as Vivian.

“In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York’s social scene – and stole their money as well. But is Anna New York’s biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey? The series is inspired by the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler, who also serves as a producer,” according to Netflix.

In 2018, the streaming giant reportedly agreed to pay Sorokin $100,000 for that story, plus $7,500 royalty and a $15,000-per-episode consulting fee. But if the state of New York has any say in the matter, Sorokin won’t see any of it for herself.

She reportedly got $30,000 upfront in the deal, most of which allegedly went to her lawyer for fees. The state Attorney General’s Office is apparently not going to ask for that money back. It is reportedly keeping the rest of the $100,000 in escrow, trying to invoke a “Son of Sam” law: the name for any law that seeks to prevent criminals from profiting off their crimes.

Watch the trailer and catch Inventing Anna on Netflix right now.