Anna Delvey is the fake name used by Anna Sorokin, a Russian-born fraudster.
History[]
Move from Russian and Time in Germany[]
Anna's father moved from Russia to Germany. Then he arranged for Anna to make the trip by herself, bringing a bag. When she arrived, she was stopped by an officer. She told him she was there to meet her dad and he ordered her to open the bag. She couldn't because she didn't know the combination, so he cut it open and money fell out. Two men in suits approached and used some of the money to pay the officer off before taking Anna to her father.
At a restaurant, Anna was surprised to see her father indulging in a lavish meal, because they never had nice things in Russia. Vadim pointed out to her how the waiter was treating him because he's an immigrant and said that now he had powerful friends and they weren't poor anymore.
When Anna started school in Germany, she struggled to fit in and was picked on. Anna then got more fashionable clothes, went back to the table where she'd been picked on, and insulted their clothes. She continued to be interested in fashion, even cutting out pictures from magazines and putting her head on the bodies.[2]
Move to the US and Dating Chase[]
In 2011, Anna left Germany to attend a fashion program in London. She left it immediately to go to Paris. Then in 2013, while working at Purple magazine as an intern, Anna traveled to the US for a vacation in Mantauk with co-workers, but ended up staying. On August 13, she arrived in Manhattan, where she met Val a few days later. Soon after that, she also met Chase and the two of them started seeing each other.
While they were together, Chase paid for everything with money had had coming into his business. The two of them stayed with Val for a while, which meant crashing at Nora Radford's. Around the same time, Anna met Talia Mallay at an art gallery and persuaded Talia to buy a photograph she liked instead of the painting she'd been planning to buy. After this, Anna became a part of her circle.
Anna was scrolling through Instagram when Chase noticed a yacht in one of the pictures in her feed. Talia was there, but the yacht belonged to Henrick Knight. Chase recognized the name and told Anna to tell Talia that they were in Ibiza. She invited them to dinner that night, but they postponed it to the next night to give them time to fly to Ibiza.
In Ibiza, they were ferried out to the yacht, where Talia introduced them to Hen, Steve Lagos, and Bryce. Bryce thought she recognized Anna from the SoHo Club, but Anna said she never went there and actually wanted to start her own club and reject their members. Talia encouraged her to do it. At dinner, Hen toasted in Russian and turned to Anna to translate it, thought she denied speaking any Russian.
After dinner, Chase tried to pitch his app Wake to Hen and Steve, who didn't see the value in it until Anna stepped in and suggested they couldn't see the value because they were old, much like her father when she suggested he invest in Facebook. Her pitch persuaded Hen, who invested $100,000. Chased was excited about this and asked Anna to be his partner at Wake. She said she'd consider it. When the party ended, they all left the yacht and parted ways, but Chase and Anna ended up back on the yacht, where they stayed until Talia called Anna and told her to leave.
From there, Chase and Anna went to Paris to meet up with Val. Backstage at one of his shows, they fought about Wake and money and Chase called Anna a psycho. Anna ended up leaving with Val. They tried to go back to their hotel room, but the manager said he needed payment or he couldn't let them back in or hand over their belongings. When Val started to panic because he needed the pills from his bag, Anna cried and said her father had cut her off. Val called Chase, who came and paid the bill. He and Anna then rekindled their romance, despite Val telling Chase that Anna's real last name was Sorokin and she was born outside Moscow, which he learned when he looked at Anna's passport on Chase's request. They snubbed Val, leaving him in Paris. She told Chase that she changed her name to stand out more and said she wanted to start an exclusive club, where people like her would have a place. Chase offered to help her. She didn't want people questioning her background as she did it and Chase assured her they wouldn't.[3]
When Nora asked why Val hadn't returned to New York, Chase and Anna told her that Val had gone to Alabama to see his dad. Anna then became upset when Nora focused all her attention on Chase and helping his business succeed. Chase helped her get some meetings with people who could help her build ADF. She met with Gabriel Calatrava, who told her he needed to see what kind of collection she was looking at before he could design the space. He pledged to sign on if she got a gallerist or curator on board. Then she met with Sasha Thomas, a gallerist who said she needed to see the space before she could curate a collection. Finally, she met with Richard Lavin, who manages all of Manhattan's high-end properties. He told her he liked to choose who he would work with.
Anna became determined to get Nora's help for ADF. She used their shared knowledge of art to pique Nora's interest and got herself invited on a shopping trip to Bergdorf's. On this trip, she met Nora's friends: Donna Zaveri, Susan Alcott, Patricia Conti, and Jodi Kleinsmith. The five women had come up together in the day of the old boys' club and formed their own club. It was on this trip that Anna heard about 281 Park Avenue being up for lease and became fixated on having it as the location for ADF. She also took the opportunity of Nora leaving her check open to make additional purchases on Nora's card without her knowledge.
Meanwhile, Chase told Anna he'd been invited to an Open Air in Berlin, so he had to leave. While he was gone, Nora started relying on Anna to go pick up things for her, like takeout at an after-party. At this after-party, Anna learned that Open Air had ben cancelled, so she called Chase and confronted him about his lie. She then went to the Wake offices, where Rafael Stukken was packing things up. He told her that she should talk to Chase. She asked for his help finding where an Instagram photo was posted from. She used this to track Chase to Ohio, where he was staying at his parents' house. She went there to confront him and he told her he had run out of money. He begged her not to say anything to Nora, because he was waiting for a $2 million investment from one of her friends.
They returned to New York, where Anna became even more determined to get Nora's help. She told Nora about what happened in Paris, except she said that Chase was supposed to pay and hadn't because of everything that was happening with Wake. Nora decided to take Anna to a fundraiser instead of Chase after he was forced to show her Wake's business records, which showed that he had no money left. Chase showed up at the fundraiser anyway and was let in because he was originally meant to go as Nora's guest. After watching Nora introduce Anna to many art-world contacts, he confronted Anna and asked for 40% of ADF. She refused to give it to him.
That night, Anna overheard Nora getting a call from her bank, informing her about some unusual charges on her card. Anna immediately went upstairs, packed her things, and left Nora's. She then sent Nora a present, a taxidermy peacock previously on display at Bergdorf's. Despite this falling out, the connections Nora made for her helped her get people on board to work for her, including Richard Lavin, whom she told she wanted to lease 281 Park Avenue.[4]
Developing ADF[]
Anna toured 281 Park with Gabriel Calatrava, Richard Lavin, Richie Notar, and Jaffe. As they walked around, she shared her vision for the space, saying she wanted three restaurants plus a German bakery. When they were finished, Richard told her he had other interested parties, but she insisted she needed it. They estimated she would need $40 million to finance it.
Anna met with Alan Reed, a Wall Street lawyer, whom she knew could help her secure the funding she needed. She made her pitch, but was unable to answer some questions he had about her business plan. He said no lender would take a chance on her, so he couldn't take her on as a client.
Undeterred, Anna went back to his office the next day and greeted him right inside the door with the answers to his questions. He still refused to take her on, saying it was disturbing that she didn't understand that that wasn't how to do business.
Wanting to be taken more seriously, Anna dyed her hair from blonde to red and went back to Alan's office. She talked about not being taken seriously because of how she looked and how a man in her position wouldn't have any trouble getting the money. He let her do her pitch. Once she was finished, she told him Peter Hennecke handles all her business and could get him whatever he needed. She then invited him to a party she was throwing, saying her advisors would be there and it would give him the chance to see that ADF would work.
At the party, Anna was pleased that Alan decided to come. She then mingled around. David Morrison introduced her to several others who could help her with her business.
Alan started working on securing a loan for Anna, but she quickly became frustrated with the lack of progress. He reassured her, saying it would come through. Meanwhile, Anna used a connection she'd made at her party to book a chartered flight to Berkshire Hathaway when she got tickets from David Morrison. She was able to board this flight without providing a form of payment because of her connection to the CEO, Ron Wheaton. On the way, Anna, Gavin Peterson, and Yakub Matthews talked about the real action being at Warren Buffet's private party and decided to go there instead. Gavin and Yakub got in easily, but Anna's pass was for the conference only, so she was denied entry. She told the others she'd meet up with them inside. While Anna tried to get into the party, she got a called from David Morrison, telling her her application was with the underwriters and they just needed a deposit of $100,000 to proceed. She told him she'd have Peter send it right away. When she got off the phone with David, she called Alan in a panic, worried she was going to lose 281 Park. He assured her that that wouldn't happen and told her to focus on CNB. In exchange, she offered him a seat on the ADF board.
Back in New York, Anna met with Reggie Walsh from CNB, who told her they weren't going to proceed with her application. She went back to Alan with that news and Alan told Reggie he needed to make things right with her. Reggie told Anna they'd open an account for her at CNB and extend an overdraft facility of $200,000 that she could access immediately.[5]
Time at 12 George[]
Anna left Billy's place to move into 12 George and quickly established herself as a generous tipper. There, she met Neff Davis, a concierge and the two became friends. Neff called around and got Anna on all the lists in town, giving her access anywhere she wanted to go. At the same time, progress had stalled on her loan, though Alan told her it was only a matter of time and she just needed to be patient.
One evening, Anna had dinner at the hotel restaurant with David Morrison and Conrad Lewis. Each of them wanted to handle her financial affairs. When David left the table, Conrad flirted with her and tried to hold her hand. When they finished dinner, David left, but Conrad tried to get her to take him upstairs to her room. Neff saw her distress and stepped in, pretending Anna had an emergency phone call and shuffling Conrad to the door. Once he was gone, Neff expressed her shock at how relentless he was despite Anna's obvious lack of interest. Anna invited Neff to go to a party with her.
At the party, Anna introduced Neff to her friends. They had dinner and socialized. After this night, Anna and Neff began to hang out regularly, along with Anna's friend, Rachel DeLoache Williams. Neff arranged for the three of them to be trained by Kacy Duke, though Anna spent the whole session pre-occupied with ADF business. After this, the four of them started hanging out together. Once night, while they were drunk, Anna and Neff ended up lying together on Anna's bed and talking about their childhoods. Anna let slip that she didn't have a lot as a child, but covered by saying her father had money, but wouldn't let her spend it. Anna encouraged Neff to pursue her dream of being a director.
Soon after this, Neff became suspicious of Anna when she learned that the owner of 281 Park had never heard of Anna and the hotel never got a credit card on file for her, leaving her with a nearly $34,000 unpaid bill. Neff tried to get a credit card from Anna, but Anna made excuses for why she couldn't do it. She started to look into Anna more. She learned that Anna had been paying her dinner bills until her credit card got hacked, at which point she started signing the bills to her room. She confronted Anna, but Anna said she was just being crazy.
Anna returned to the hotel to learn that she'd been locked out of her room. The hotel manager, Jeannot Thomas, told Neff not to let her back into her room until her bill had been paid in full. Soon afterward, Anna paid the entire bill by wire transfer and paid Neff back. Then she left to go on a trip. She invited Neff to go along, but Neff said she didn't have any more days off and needed to keep her job.[6]
Trip to Morocco[]
Anna and Rachel planned a trip to Morocco while Anna waited for Fortress to approve her loan. They also invited Kacy to come along and Noah to document their trip. From the moment they arrived, the staff of the resort repeatedly asked Anna for a form of payment. Anna made excuses and ignored them while enjoying the amenities of the resort and complaining about the difficulty of getting the loan through Fortress. Rachel wanted to go to the YSL gardens, but Anna said they had everything they needed a the resort, so she saw no reason to leave. That night at dinner, Kacy got sick and was forced to go home the next morning. After Kacy left, the resort put additional pressure on Anna to pay. Anna made excuses, so Rachel put up her card as a hold until Anna could get her banking problems worked out.
Anna then finally agreed that they could go the YSL gardens like Rachel wanted, but they ran into more trouble when they were again unable to pay. They had to go back to the resort to get Rachel's card, but could only get it if they got another card. Rachel put down her work card and went back to YSL alone when the resort wouldn't let the others go with her.
While she was gone, Anna got a call from Alan telling her Fortress was going to give her the loan. She celebrated until he told her they were sending someone in person to Germany to verify her funds. She hung up, then went out to the tennis court, where she started crying. When Noah found her, she told him she wasn't going to get the loan from Fortress and said instead that her father was giving her early access to her trust fund to pay for it, which was better anyway.
When Rachel returned, she and Noah packed and left. Anna stayed another week and then let them charge Rachel's work card so she could leave. She called Kacy and told her she'd been mugged and had no way to get home, so Kacy bought her a ticket home. Once she returned, Anna begged to spent the night at Kacy's place. Kacy allowed it for one night and then sent Anna away.[7]
Avoiding Rachel, Arrest, and Intervention[]
Rachel started to text and call Anna, asking for the money so she could pay the balance of her work credit card. Anna continuously avoided Rachel and made excuses before sending $5000, a small portion of what she owed. Rachel continued reaching out to Anna until Anna offered to leave a cashier's check for Rachel to pick up at The W. However, before Rachel arrived, Anna was arrested when The W called the police on her because she hadn't paid them or any of the other hotels she'd stayed in.
Todd got Anna out of jail when she contacted him, believing he'd represented Alec Baldwin. While they were discussing him defending her, Todd clarified that he actually defended Alec Baldwin's stalker. He had Anna sign a form that permitted to put a lien on her assets if she didn't pay him. Anna said that she was still having trouble with her cards and would need to stay with Todd, but Todd immediately refused.
Anna was then tricked into coming to an intervention held by Kacy and Rachel with the goal of getting Anna to call her parents and ask them for help. They confronted her, saying they knew she was lying about leasing 281 Park. When they showed her the proof, she broke down crying, saying she thought they were her friends. She then excused herself to the bathroom, but actually left the building.
Now alone, Anna walked to a park, where she called Alan and then Gabriel, but then her phone died. She then tried to check into a hotel, but the manager stopped her and said they couldn't let her check in without advanced payment. Anna left and got onto the subway. On a seat nearby was a bag of food from Shake Shack. She grabbed it and started eating. Anna then checked all her many bank accounts, all of which were overdrawn. She was due in court that day and promised Todd she'd be on time, but instead of going to court, she used her ADF checkbook to write herself a check for $15,000, which she then took to another branch to cash. Since she failed to appear in court, a bench warrant was issued for her. She used the money to buy a ticket and boarded a flight to Los Angeles.[8]
Anna ignored texts from people back in LA and went to the Chateau Marmont, where she reserved the penthouse. She ordered a bottle of rosé for herself. When it arrived, she drank the whole thing and took several tablets of Xanax.
When she woke up, she was at Cedars-Sinai and Dr. Millikan introduced himself as an attending psychiatrist for the hospital. He asked her questions to test her orientation. He then told her she was found unconscious next to an empty bottle of Xanax. Anna told him she was just stressed and wanted to sleep. He told her they'd had to resuscitate her and she was on a respirator for a while. She tried to leave, but he told her she was on a 5150 hold until after he could evaluate her. She still tried to leave, only stopping when he said he'd have to call police if she didn't get back in the bed.
Millikan asked Anna why she left New York and if she told anyone she was coming to LA. He also asked if there was anyone back in Germany, someone he could talk to, as it would help her get out of the hospital sooner. Anna said if she really wanted to kill herself, she would have succeeded, and that her life in Germany was behind her.
Millikan asked if she was running from something, as evidence suggested she was. She said she wasn't.
Millikan next talked to Anna about her father. Anna said she didn't blame him because he really did believe in the bright future he promised her. She created that bright future and resented him for forgetting that bright future when things started to fall apart for them in Germany. He started to drink and became small, weak, and angry. Anna hid away in her room to read magazines. She believed in the bright future and did what it took to get it for herself.
Anna told Millikan that she left Germany to go to the beautiful world in the magazines. He told her that that world doesn't really exist, but she told him it did in big cities with their parties. Being there made her feel like she'd made it until the memory was marred, so she drank and took pills to numb that feeling. She said the worst thing was that she was just like her dad, drinking to avoid her problems. After hearing this, Millikan said that was his last question and he was signing off on her release. He believed her overdose was an honest accident and didn't believe she was at risk for hurting herself. He recommended time at a drug and alcohol treatment facility.
Anna checked herself into Passages, but didn't get along with the other patients as she didn't care to follow their treatment program and spent her time in group talking about how LA was so much better than New York. Anna ended up leaving the group session when Rachel called and asked her to have lunch. Anna asked Rachel to pick her up, but when Anna went outside, she was instead arrested and flown back to New York.[9]
Arrest, Indictment, and Plea Hearing[]
On November 20, 2017, Anna was indicted on several fraud-related charges. Anna went to her bail hearing, where Judge Diane Kiesel denied Anna bail, saying she'd reviewed her case and had no confidence that Anna would return to court if she were released. She ordered Anna remanded to Rikers Island until trial.
Vivian Kent, a journalist who had heard about Anna's case, wrote Anna a letter, asking to interview her. Anna read the letter and called Vivian, agreeing to meet her. When Vivian came to Rikers, Anna questioned why Vivian didn't get a media visit, which would allow them extra freedoms and was more exclusive. Vivian said that also took a lot of extra time and paperwork, when she could just visit Anna without going through all that extra work. Anna said she wasn't sure if she wanted to let Vivian interview her, so Vivian suggested they just get to know each other at first. Anna expressed that she didn't like the picture McCaw was painting of her as a party girl. She was trying to start a business.
While she was considering the interview, Catherine McCaw, the prosecutor in her case, offered Anna a deal to do four years conditional parole with deportation.
On Vivian's second visit, Anna suggested she try to do a media visit. Vivian asked Anna for names of anyone who could corroborate her story, as no one she spoke to seemed to agree on anything relating to Anna. Anna then revealed that she had read about Vivian. Anna confirmed that as a result of what Anna had read about, her job offer was rescinded, and she didn't know what happened to the kid. Anna got up to leave, telling Vivian she was considering taking McCaw's offer. She also advised Vivian that VIP was always better. You just have to be willing to do the work.
Anna told Todd she was going to take the deal and also asked him to tell Vivian she didn't want to do the interview as she didn't like the direction Vivian's story was taking.
Vivian came back to visit Anna again, this time using a media visit, which allowed them to meet in a private room. Anna was insistent that she wasn't going to do the interview, that she was taking the deal, because she could get fifteen years if she lost as trial. The deal would have her out in four and reported. Vivian told her that people were saying awful things about her and if she took the deal, she'd be accepting that as the narrative. A trial would give her the chance to defend herself. Vivian could get her what she wanted, to be famous.
At the hearing, Anna told the judge she wasn't taking the deal, that she wanted to be heard in court.[10]
When Vivian visited Anna again, Anna was upset she hadn't come sooner and said Vivian being pregnant was no excuse, as people have babies all the time. She said if Vivian wouldn't come, they were done. She also demanded that Vivian bring her underwear on her next visit, as the ones the prison provided were ugly.
Vivian brought Anna panties, but they weren't as nice as Anna was expecting. Vivian told her she would wear them because Vivian knew about her charging Nora's credit cards. Anna refused to admit to that theft and instead just told Vivian she'd made a pitch deck for ADF and it would be helpful if Vivian saw it.[11]
Vivian learned that Anna had posed as her own business manager in order to convince Alan Reed to take her on as a client and asked Anna about it. Anna said that Alan underestimated her as all men do over women. And he was never in danger of losing anything.[12]
Fight with Vivian[]
Vivian returned to Rikers to interview Anna again. Anna asked about the magazines Vivian had said she'd bring, but Vivian told her she'd forgotten them. When Anna asked what was wrong with her, Vivian denied anything being wrong and started talking about Anna's move from Billy's to 12 George. She stayed at 12 George longer than anywhere else, so Vivian wanted to know what was different. Anna fixated on Vivian's mood, so Vivian ended the interview and left.
Soon after this conversation, Neff visited Anna at Rikers for the first time and told her that she was making her film on her phone.[13]
Rachel's Article[]
When Rachel wrote an article that was published in Vanity Fair about her relationship with Anna, a guard threw a copy of the magazine into Anna's cell. When Anna saw it, she started screaming that she needed to make a phone call.[14]
Vivian's Article[]
When Vivian's article came out, she took a copy to Anna at Rikers. Anna wasn't impressed, because she said if people have done what they were told, things would have come together and she would have been able to start ADF. Vivian reminded her that she did lie. She never had a trust fund. Her father ran a small trucking business. Legal confirmed it for the article. Anna still tried to maintain the lie until their visit was over.[15]
Fraud Trial[]
As her trial date approached, Todd began preparing Anna for her trial. He told her the prosecution had too much evidence in the lesser charges, so his defense was focusing on the big three: Fortress, CNB, and Rachel. His defense hinged on the fact that the prosecution couldn't prove that she was dangerously close to getting any money. Anna was upset that his defense was based around saying she was incompetent, but he said they had to do it that way. She asked him what she was wearing to the trial and when he said he didn't care, that the court would supply clothes, she asked for a stylist.
Anna traded cups of noodles for other inmates' phone time, which she used to call Neff to get the number for a stylist. Neff connected her to Natasha Lucas, who talked to Anna about possible looks and then started putting outfits together. Next, she called Vivian to ask who else was covering her trial. Vivian said probably The Post, but she didn't really know. Anna wanted her to draw in more interest, but Vivian said she wasn't doing that. Finally, Anna tried to call Todd, but Alexi told her Todd wasn't in the office. Anna left a message with him to have Todd call her father and tell him to write money for a stylist or bring it when he came for the trial.
On her first day in court, Anna refused to get dressed in the court-provided clothes. The clothes Natasha had put together had been dropped off at Rikers instead of the courthouse, leaving her without an outfit she found acceptable. She told Todd she'd rather wear her jumpsuit, but he said she legally couldn't and begged her to wear the clothes. When she still refused, Todd asked Vivian to go shopping and buy something for Anna to wear, which she did. When the clothes arrived, Anna got dressed and went to court.
Anna was disappointed at the small crowd in the courtroom. She watched as Todd and McCaw gave their opening statements. Then witnesses started testifying. After the first day, Neff created an Instagram account following Anna's trial style. This drew a much larger crowd as the trial progressed.
The day after Rachel testified, when she was due to be cross-examined, Anna again refused to get dressed for court. Todd argued with her, saying his reputation was on the line as much as hers was with this trial. Anna fired him and said her father would get her a new lawyer, but Todd told her her father wasn't coming. Even he was done with her act. Todd was the last person she had standing be her. He said he'd expose Rachel and defend Anna. Anna told him she'd rather go to jail forever than come across as a wannabe amateur and he promised her he wouldn't let that be the narrative. After this conversation, Anna got dressed and went to the courtroom, where Judge Kiesel told her her behavior was unacceptable. Todd cross-examined Rachel, establishing all the ways she was making money off her relationship with Anna.
Finally, Todd and McCaw gave their closing statements. In his, Todd did what he said he wouldn't and said the business was never real and Anna never got "dangerously close" to getting any money. When he returned to the defense table, he told Anna he had to do it. After deliberation, the jury returned a verdict. She was found guilty on all but two counts, which were two of the three big ones. Once court was adjourned, Todd told Anna that he had to leave, but Alexi would take care of her. However, after only a few minutes, Todd came back and checked on Anna, who said that people saw that she isn't an idiot.
Anna was sentence to four to twelve years, to be served at Bedford Hills. Before she left, she told Vivian she was ready for real prison. Vivian apologized to Anna, as she believed her article led to Anna receiving a harsher sentence and cost her the deal she'd initially been offered. At the end of the conversation, they made peace with each other and Vivian agreed to come visit Anna.
Anna was then transported to Bedford Hills. She remained there until her release on February 11, 2021. A month after being released, she was taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa.[16]
Relationships[]
Romantic[]
She dated Chase Sikorski for a while after arrived in New York. They broke up when Anna left Nora's place when Nora was about to discover that Anna had stolen from her.[17]
Familial[]
Anna's mother said she always felt like Anna was a stranger in her home, that she never fit in with their family.[18]
Friendships[]
After leaving Nora's place, Anna stayed with Billy McFarland for a while. He tried to get her to invest in his music festival, Fyre Festival, but she declined.[19]
Notes and Trivia[]
- Netflix Bio: A young woman in her mid-20s with a hard to place European accent who takes New York by storm. Either a brilliant businesswoman or a scammer extraordinaire, Anna in turn inspires loyalty, compassion, contempt, and obsession – all while leaving behind an emotional body count.
- She claims to speak seven languages and have a photographic memory.[20]
- She wears size 7 shoes.[21]
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Inventing Anna | |||||
| #01 | "Life of a VIP" | #04 | "A Wolf in Chic Clothing" | #07 | "Cash on Delivery" |
| #02 | "The Devil Wore Anna" | #05 | "Check Out Time" | #08 | "Too Rich for Her Blood" |
| #03 | "Two Birds, One Throne" | #06 | "Friends in Low Places" | #09 | "Dangerously Close" |