Faux Money, Mo’ Problems
U.S. immigration authorities said they have detained Anna Sorokin, the con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy German heiress and served more than three years behind bars for defrauding New York banks and hotels.
Sorokin, aka the Soho Grifter, who finagled her way into the Manhattan elite using the name Anna Delvey, 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 in March, agency spokesperson Marcus Johnson told The Associated Press.
The delay could mean the one-time darling of New York’s social scene is challenging her deportation, which has been in the works since she was convicted in 2019 on multiple counts of larceny and theft.
ICE declined to comment on Sorokin’s immigration proceedings. Sorokin’s attorney also declined to discuss the case. A message seeking comment was left with the German embassy in Washington.
Prosecutors said Sorokin falsified records and defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrities into believing she had a fortune of $67 million overseas that could cover her high-end clothing and lavish hotel stays.
In a recent interview with the BBC, she suggested her audacious fraud had paid off, noting she is writing a book.
“I am trying to turn the attention I am getting into something positive,” she said.
So long, suckas.