The focus is on Anna Delvey, a woman who lived a lavish lifestyle among New York socialites, often paying in cash to avoid raising suspicion about her true background. Anna, who claimed to be a potential heiress but whose origins were unclear, would frequently ask for advice from the concierge at the Soho hotel where she stayed, slipping her a hundred dollars each time.
The concierge, Neff, eventually realized that Anna already knew the best places to go and was not seeking her help but rather wanting her time. Anna’s reputation grew, and she was known for her generosity, paying for everything in cash and often in large bills. Her room would overflow with shopping bags from high-end brands, and she would treat herself to expensive beauty treatments and even hire a personal trainer. Despite her European accent and the assumption that she was an heiress, the origin of her wealth remained unclear to many. Anna’s ability to mingle and turn up to parties on private jets dressed in designer clothes made her an enigma among the socialite scene.
Michael Huang, the founder of Beijing’s M Woods Museum, recounts his experience with Anna Delvey, a wealthy acquaintance who paid for everything in cash during their trip to Italy. Despite finding it strange, Michael did not raise any red flags until he received a message from a restaurant asking for payment for Anna’s unpaid bill. As speculations about Anna’s true origins began to surface, it was revealed that she had hired a PR firm to organize her birthday party and had promised to pay for it, but had not. Anna’s behavior became more suspicious when she failed to pay her hotel bill, despite promising to wire the money. Despite the mounting debts, Anna continued to invite wealthy guests to her dinners and even managed to secure investments for her private arts club, The Anna Deli Foundation, from people like Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli. However, when Shkreli was later convicted of securities fraud, Anna’s association with him raised further suspicions about her true identity and financial capabilities.
Anna Sorokin, who presented herself as a wealthy socialite and heiress, was exposed as a fraudster after she was unable to pay her hotel bills in New York City. Anna had used a tactic she learned from her fraudster friend, Martin Shkreli, to threaten hotel managers with purchasing web domains in their names if they did not comply with her demands. When her personal trainer fell ill and was unable to pay for the hotel, Anna’s cards were denied, leading to her belongings being confiscated and her being kicked out. Anna begged her trainer to let her stay, but was eventually forced to attend an intervention where her debts were discussed. Anna was arrested for outstanding bills and faced six counts of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny. It was revealed that Anna was not an heiress but came from a working-class family with no trust fund. Despite her situation, Anna continued to try to talk her way out of paying for her crimes and even offered a plea deal of one to three years imprisonment, which was rejected. She is currently awaiting trial and facing a possible 15 years in prison for allegedly scamming people and numerous banks and hotels for around 275,000 dollars. Experts believe she used falsified documents to acquire loans and took out credit she was unable to pay back. Anna’s life is set to be the basis of a Netflix series.
