Anna Sorokin, a con artist who posed as a rich heiress to rip-off her victims out of a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}, is outwardly paying again these victims by means of the cash she made promoting her story to Netflix.
The Russian-born Sorokin, 30, is presently serving time in a New York jail for masquerading as a German heiress named Anna Delvey, with a supposed $60 million belief fund. She lived an extravagant lifestyle, rubbing elbows with the wealthy and well-known, scamming monetary establishments and people alike for money till she was arrested in 2017.
In 2018, Sorokin’s wild story went viral in a function story in New York Journal’s The Reduce titled “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People.” The article is being changed into a Netflix sequence known as “Inventing Anna,” starring Julia Garner; it is slated to be launched someday this yr. Netflix reportedly paid Sorokin $320,000 for the sequence, and he or she has used $199,000 of that cash thus far to pay restitution to the banks, Insider reports. Sorokin paid one other $24,000 from the Netflix cash in state fines.
The state of New York froze Sorokin’s funds again in 2019 to forestall her from creating wealth off the Netflix deal, invoking the “Son of Sam” regulation for the primary time since 2001. The not often used regulation was established to forestall criminals from profiting off their crimes. It was handed in 1977 after serial killer David Berkowitz was provided cash for a guide about his homicide spree.
Sorokin’s funds, nevertheless, have been unfrozen now so she will pay again her victims.
She has additionally agreed to pay $70,000 in restitution to Citibank, Insider studies. She has paid again $100,000 to Metropolis Nationwide Financial institution, The Wall Street Journal reported in December.
Sorokin’s lawyer Audrey A. Thomas informed Insider that Sorokin admits she owes the establishment cash, however she debates the assertion that she stole from them.
“She stated, ‘You understand, I would like them to be paid. I didn’t steal the cash, however I do owe cash, so I’m not going to struggle it. That’s not who I’m,’” Thomas stated.
Sorokin’s ex-friend and former Vainness Honest picture editor Rachel Williams has additionally turned her ordeal right into a inventive endeavor. After writing a well-liked 2018 Vanity Fair story, alleging she was duped by the pretend heiress, she bought a guide cope with Simon & Schuster to put in writing the 2019 guide “My Friend Anna.” That is now the idea for an HBO mission.
Throughout Sorokin’s 2019 trial, a jury discovered her not responsible of a larceny cost involving Williams. She was, nevertheless, convicted of six counts of felony fraud together with second-degree larceny, theft of providers and one depend of first-degree tried grand larceny.
Whereas Sorokin was sentenced to as much as 12 years behind bars, she’s anticipated to be launched subsequent yr.
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