Anna Delvey took the New York City social scene by storm, and she was known for not only her expensive taste and lifestyle, but also her propensity to pay in cash. To many, including other major celebrities, she had it all, until one fateful night. Anna’s life changed forever after her secrets came out, and the country stood in shock when they found out who she really was.
The Mystery Woman
If you’re on top of the socialite scene in New York, it is impossible that you haven’t heard of Anna Delvey. Her name seemed familiar to those around her, but nobody could agree on where she came from, or more importantly, where her money came from. It seems that she merely appeared in Soho one day and spent time in the places everyone wanted to be.
Don’t Be Fooled
Upon first glance, it was clear that New York City’s newest socialite came from money, or at least had a lot of it. Her mannerisms also showed that she had a background in knowing where to shop, where to eat, and who to befriend in the city. This clever woman fooled many into believing that she was a part of the socialite crowd as much as the rest.
The Right Conditions
The first question that was swept under the rug was, what is her permanent address? It seemed Anna moved from one expensive hotel to the next, with the occasional visa renewal outside of the country. When she moved to a Soho hotel located at 11 Howard Street, that is when her reputation started to take off.
She Played The Part
It helped Anna’s case that she seemed to be acquainted with the right type of people. For this reason, the hotel chose not to ask for a credit card when she checked into her room. This type of rule-bending was a formality that led to her and the hotel’s downfall later on.
The Sweet Life
Anna Delvey had a growing group of admirers because of the kind of life that many could only dream about. She was always seen in high-end clothes, and in an act of grace that earned her an astounding reputation, she made sure to tip solely in hundred-dollar bills. Neffatari Davis, working at the concierge at 11 Howard, grew close to her, but that didn’t stop her interest in wondering about Anna Delvey’s background. Neffatari, also known as Neff, seemed to be drawn to the interesting woman the moment she walked into 11 Howard.
A Celebrity
Anna shocked the concierge when she said she wanted to stay at the expensive hotel for a month. Only celebrities had the type of money to request a month’s stay. Nevertheless, anytime Anna went to the concierge desk, she had a $100 bill for Neff.
Another Soho Socialite
Neff had no reason to believe that Anna was nothing more than another Soho socialite. Neff seemed to want to befriend Anna as she was building her career in cinematography and knowing Anna might help her achieve her major career goals. There was something about Anna she would come to find out that would change her life forever.
She Knew It All
Anna had a tendency of asking Neff at the concierge desk for dining and entertainment suggestions, which was surprising to Neff because Anna clearly already knew the best options in the city. Anna was familiar with the best bartenders, restaurant owners, and waiters by name. Neff wondered if there was an ulterior motive to getting close to Neff.
Looking For A Friend
Neff soon came to realize that Anna was not looking for recommendations, she was looking for something more wholesome than her life as a Soho socialite. The hundred-dollar tips were a way for Anna to get close to Neff, perhaps as a way to buy a friend. Very quickly, their close friendship blossomed as Neff learned all about Anna’s life. She said, “You just sit there and listen, because that’s your concierge life.”
After Hours
Neff recalled that she did not see their conversations as strange, but the first time that Anna contacted Neff after hours, things began to change. Soon, Anna was taking her close friend and Howard 11 concierge to clubs and restaurants on her own dime.
Exclusively In Cash
News traveled fast that when Anna Delvey was expected at Howard 11, $100 tips would follow. Neff explained, “People would fight to take her packages upstairs. Fight, because you knew you were getting $100.” Who wouldn’t fight for those $100 tips! Anna seemed to know that, in America, money spoke volumes. While it was peculiar that she only paid in cash, nobody seemed to care where her money was coming from.
A Vacationing Royal
Neff said, “She gave to everyone. Uber drivers, $100 cash. Meals — listen. You know how you reach for your credit card? She wouldn’t let me.” Anna Delvey was also interested in improving herself and paid for a dual life coach and personal trainer for $4,500. This may have been an exorbitant price to many, but to Anna, it seemed to not even make her bat an eye. She was wealthy, and nobody cared how or why.
European Heiress
Her European accent led many to believe that she was some type of heiress with millions to her name. Others thought that she was some type of princess that was taking a long vacation away from her family’s lavish castle.
Star-Studded Dinner Parties
Anna Delvey’s first true friend was Neff Davis, so Neff took the lead on organizing and hosting major dinner parties at one of the most expensive French restaurants in the area, called Le Coucou. Many celebrities, CEOs, artists, and athletes attended the large dinners.
An Extroverted Person
Anna Delvey had a set of personality traits that made her among the top most loved socialites in Soho. She was persuasive, knew the right people, and also seemed to have the charm to befriend almost anyone. The pictures show a woman with a keen sense of fashion, but to those she interacted with, she had a certain way with people that was hard to replicate.
A Way With People
There was a particular man who met her during the Paris Fashion week who called her polite and sweet at first. It took no time at all before she was talking and befriending her friends. Anna was the best type of people-person to be around.
Right Clothes, Right Time
Another person who got close to her said, “She managed to be in all the sort of right places.” With an incomparable sense of fashion and style and so much money that she attended a Berlin party on a private jet, it seemed that she had an unlimited amount of money. Still, nobody knew where her money was coming from. A marketing director who knew Anna had a pertinent point to make. “There are so many trust-fund kids running around,” Saleh said. “Everyone is your best friend, and you don’t know a thing about anyone.” It turned out that she was the furthest thing from a trust-fund baby.
Footing The Bill
Anna Delfey and Michael Xufu Huang met at an art show, and they were inseparable after that. Michael founded a museum and is a well-known art collector. To illustrate the intimacy of their relationship, they traveled to Italy together to attend the Venice Biennale. For the first time, someone was off-put by something that Anna had done. She asked Michael to put the hotel and flight on his card, which he was quoted as saying was “a little weird.” She promised to pay him back, and their relationship continued. Michael did not seem to mind, given his exorbitant wealth himself.
Bye Venice
Michael’s close quarters with Anna gave him the opportunity to take a close look at her spending habits. He noticed that Anna only paid in cash, and while that habit was strange, it was not off-putting for him. After the trip’s end, Anna conveniently forgot to pay back her friend. Michael was already familiar with the enormously-wealthy’s habit to forget minor expenses such as this trip to Italy. He, too, eventually forgot.
Best Birthday Ever Until…
What could be dreamier than the biggest birthday bash of the year? Anna decided to throw herself a major birthday party, and went so far as to hire a public relations firm to arrange the birthday. She arranged for many of her friends and celebrities to attend the birthday. Among those she sent an invitation to, was her art collector friend, Michael. The party was a spectacular hit, but then things went south very fast.
What Was She Hiding?
Following the extravagant birthday bash, Michael got notice that some businesses were seeking Anna’s contact information. It seemed “she didn’t pay her bill.” Within seconds, Michael realized that his close friend had a big secret.
Different People, Different Stories
More and more people in the socialite community started asking, who was Anna Delvey? Where did her money really come from? Why was she always paying in cash? When her close friends cross-checked their stories about her, they had differing answers about her background and her enormous wealth.
No One Could Agree
There were a lot of differing opinions about Anna. One friend stated her father was a diplomat based in Russia – it was all “family money.” Another friend said Anna’s money came from her family’s involvement in the oil industry. Since nobody’s stories seemed to match up, they all became more and more curious about their dear friend Anna.
More Theories
The theories never ended. One friend speculated that her family had a massive antique business in Germany. Soon it was clear that none of these grandiose stories were true. Eventually, when the truth came out, it was surprising to all who were close to her that Anna was not at all phased by the differing opinions. As more people questioned where Anna Delvey and her money came from, she became more and more popular! There was nothing that could stand between her and her goal to be the most remembered socialite in New York City.
Her Future Goal
While she had accomplished her first goal to become a well-known socialite, her primary ambition was to establish an exclusive club titled ADF, or The Anna Delvey Foundation. She was so serious about this goal that she hired well-known London-based creative director Marc Kremers for help in branding the business.
A Dream
Anna Delvey invested an enormous amount of time deciding the best location for ADF. She decided to go ahead and redevelop 281 Park Avenue South, but that came at a big cost. Redeveloping that area would require millions taken out in loans, but her loyal following in connections allowed her to secure the money to redevelop the area.
Promises She Could Not Keep
Her financial partner in this business venture, and the person that helped her secure the location stated by email that the loan was necessary because “her personal assets, which are quite substantial, are located outside the US, some of them in a trust with UBS outside the US.” Anna Delvey promised all who were involved in the venture that she would have the finances to pay back the substantial loan. By the time of her sentencing, this was proven to be far from the truth.
A Little Help From Her Friends
As more and more people inquired into her background and even more began questioning her viability as someone who really did possess the wealth that she stated, Anna took to fundraising to secure the money necessary to renovate the area. One of her infamous guests was “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, who was demonized for raising the price of a life-saving medication from $13 to $750. It took no time for him to lose his freedom as he was convicted of securities fraud and is now in prison. “Anna did seem to be a popular ‘woman about town’ who knew everyone,” he wrote about her. “Even though I was nationally known, I felt like a computer geek next to her.” While Martin may have felt like a computer geek, she was, in fact, learning some financial tricks from Martin.
The Beginning Of The End
Anna Delvey seemed to have more than the usual personal stake in opening her foundation. Her close companion Neff said, “She was always on the phone with lawyers.” Concerning the conversations they had in the hotel, Neff said, “They were always toning her down. Like, ‘Anna, you’re trying to make something that’s worth this much be worth that much, and that’s just not how it works.’”
It All Came Crashing Down
Then, one fatal day, it seemed as if Anna’s entire life started crashing before her. Anna asked Neff to dinner, and when the bill arrived, there seemed to be some big problems. Anna used all 12 of her credit cards, which were all declined immediately.
It All Came Crashing Down
Time To Pay The Bill
It seemed as if Anna’s lines of credit had run out, but that was the least of her worries. She still had not paid her bill at the Howard 11 hotel. Since they did not have her credit card information, they had no way of extracting the money from an account. Until that day, they had treated her as a part of their family, swimming in money, which made sense since she claimed to be a German heiress. As a result, the hotel was happy to accommodate her request to accept a wire transfer of money, but during her month and a half long stay, not a cent had come in to pay for her room.
Time To Pay The Bill
Facing The Music
Since Neff and Anna were good friends, the hotel manager asked Neff to handle the issue over the bill to soften the blow. By this time, Anna owed the hotel about $30,000. Neff, believing that Anna’s last dinner fiasco was a fluke, made true on her promise to her manager and asked Anna about the money. Anna responded that the wire transfer would come in any day now. What she hid from Neff was how much financial ruin Anna was in at this point. Something changed in Anna’s favor just a few short days later.
Facing The Music
Enough With The Games
It seemed too good to be true, but the hotel received a wire transfer of $30,000 on behalf of their cash-paying guest! Things were quite normal for Anna again. She must have breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing that her life would be getting much worse very soon.
Enough With The Games
Rude Awakening
Since the hotel did not have a valid credit card number for Anna, her bills kept piling up for her room each day that she stayed there. The hotel decided that it was time to have a valid credit card for this “German heiress.” Things got so dicey for Anna that they threatened that if she did not comply, they would change the code to her room.
Rude Awakening
Failure To Do So
Anna never did give that credit card number, so they changed the code to her room just as they had threatened. Anna was absolutely irate for many reasons, but most of all because she was being treated like a commoner. This is when she used a trick that she learned from Martin Shkreli to get back the code. She assertively stated that if the hotel managers did not give her back her code, she would buy web domains in their names. If they ever wanted to purchase them from her, she would sell them to them – at a very steep price! After that conversation, she left for Morocco with her personal trainer and videographer Rachel Williams.
Failure To Do So
Troubles in Morocco
Anna may have tried to leave her troubles behind at Howard 11, but they soon followed. Her personal trainer had a bad bout of food poisoning and returned to the States earlier than Anna. A few days later, when Anna was getting ready to leave the hotel, she called her trainer saying her credit card was not working, and the hotel managers were threatening to go to the police. Because of the police threats, she asked her personal trainer for their credit card number and to pay the money back later. Two of the personal trainers’ credit cards did not work, leaving the hotel management to concede that perhaps the problem was on their end.
Troubles in Morocco
Kicked Out Again And Again
Upon returning to the United States, Anna left 11 Howard and moved into a new hotel. Her dismal financial state seemed to follow her to the new hotel, too. Her hotel debt accumulated to $11,518, and she was left to the streets with all of her belongings confiscated. The “German heiress” was now living on the streets of New York City!
Kicked Out Again And Again
Homeless
Despite her status as fully-homeless, she tried to scheme another hotel, only to be kicked out after a few days. Soon thereafter, she touched base with her personal trainer and asked to spend some nights with them. The trainer, noticeably weary of accommodating her, was compelled to help her when Anna started making suicide threats. Being a good person, they agreed to have Anna over their house.
Homeless
Scamming A Friend
Remember the Moroccan trip that Anna did not have the funds to pay for? The bill did, in fact, get paid, but never by Anna. Her videographer, Rachel Williams, put the $62,000 bill on her American Express card after receiving death threats. This was less than what Rachel made in a year! When Anna’s personal trainer found out that Anna left the massive bill to their friend, they took action. At that moment, the personal trainer made the connection that this spectacular Anna Delvey was most likely nothing other than a con artist, and all of New York City was getting duped.
Scamming A Friend
Not Welcome Here
The personal trainer quickly took action. She told this self-described German heiress to leave her house. Anna, however, argued that she had left her personal laptop in the trainer’s apartment, and needed to retrieve it before leaving. Seeing this as an attempt to get up to her apartment again, the personal trainer had Anna’s laptop at the front desk where she could collect it without bothering her personal trainer and her apartment any more. She pleaded to see the personal trainer, but she did not allow her to visit. Things quickly got much worse for Anna.
Not Welcome Here
An Intervention Of Sorts
It took no time at all for Anna to run through many of the hotels in the city. The hotels quickly realized her tactic, and without any money, she was soon kicked out of each one. Desperate for any sort of accommodation, she once begged her lawyer if she could stay with him. She had many apprehensions, including worries of what his wife might think. Anna’s lawyer acted as a go-between for Anna and her personal trainer, to which the trainer said no. However, she did ask Anna to dinner at a restaurant. She, too, had ulterior motives here. She hoped to stage an intervention with all of Anna’s friends who had lent her money.
An Intervention Of Sorts
Payback Time
As imagination might have it, this intervention was scathing for Anna. It seemed that Anna had conned thousands, and in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars from friends. She started crying, claiming that she would pay them all back when her lease for ADF was signed. This was when one of her friends told her some heartbreaking news: the location Anna planned to renovate had gotten sold to someone else. Anna flipped, saying it was “fake news.” Things only got stranger from there.
Payback Time
A Talented Con-Artist
Articles had been circulating about Anna Delvey, calling her many cruel names, including a “wannabe socialite.” As she read these pieces, tears came to her eyes, and she strongly claimed that they were all lies – more of that ‘fake news’ she had sputtered off before. She continued her steadfast argument that she came from money, and she merely did not manage her finances well – there was nothing more than that.
A Talented Con-Artist
Not Convinced
Rachel, among the most affected by Anna’s seemingly shady financial tactics, emailed the New York District Attorney’s Office and attached an article about her former friend. She said, quite simply, “I think this woman is a con-artist.” In a short amount of time, she received a call from the office in which they said, “We think you’re right.”
Not Convinced
Different State, Same Girl
The New York District Attorney’s office gathered their evidence and soon arrested Anna for her unpaid hotel stays. The first news story that broke saved no time in using derogatory titles: “WANNABE SOCIALITE BUSTED FOR SKIPPING OUT ON PRICEY HOTEL BILLS.” Anna hired a lawyer and was released on bail. Despite the news reports, it seemed that her life went on normally. She planned a trip to California, but in Malibu, she was arrested again and had to return to New York immediately “to face six counts of grand larceny and attempted grand larceny, in addition to theft of services.”
Different State, Same Girl
The Truth Comes Out
She was sent to Rikers Island jail without the option for bail. At this time, she is awaiting trial and is up to face 15 years in prison for her conning. As it turns out, she was not a German heiress. In fact, her real name is Anna Sorokin, born in Russia in 1991. Her working-class family moved to Germany in 2007, and as can be imagined, she did not have a lot of money of her own. When her family was asked about her trust fund, they said they had never heard of it.
The Truth Comes Out
An Offer And Counter-Offer
Anna, known for her effusive personality and ability to sway even the toughest of strangers, used those tactics to get out of her crimes. She and her lawyer offered a plea deal of 1-3 years of jail. The judge, unswayed due to her egregious acts, offered a counter of 3-9 years of jail time. Anna turned down the offer and chose to have her case go to trial instead. We are definitely eager to see how things turned out for Anna!
An Offer And Counter-Offer
No Remorse For Her Actions
The presiding judge on the case, Justice Diane Kiesel, saw that it was clear as day that Anna showed “no remorse” for her actions. Justice Kiesel also stated that she turned down the plea because it served as nothing more than a “slap o the wrist.” It was clear that the judge was not buying into Anna’s tactics, and she was more interested in having justice served than a light punishment for the crimes committed. The judge is seeking maximum sentencing, at 15 years in prison for the crimes committed.
No Remorse For Her Actions
A Netflix Adaptation
While Anna is awaiting trial, there has been a Netflix series in the works about her astounding life of lies. The judge on her case made the argument that Anna seemed more concerned about who was portraying her in that adaptation than for her actual crimes. Anna had several things to say about prison. “This place is not that bad at all actually,” she said. “People seem to think it’s horrible, but I see it as like, this sociological experiment.”
A Netflix Adaptation
Just Like A Sociological Experiment
Her lawyer had some additional things to say about Anna’s life in prison. He said, “She is like a unicorn in there.” It is clear that she has made ample friends in prison, and among those friends she has been most interested in are the murderers. She spends her time taking in her surroundings and the other inmates mannerisms. She said, “This one girl, she’s been stealing other people’s identities. I didn’t realize it was so easy.” This alarming statement has some citizens believing that her time in prison will give her ample opportunity to learn about how to be successful in more heinous acts.
Just Like A Sociological Experiment
Her Dream Location
If you are still wondering about what happened to ADF, the Anna Delvey Foundation, the place at 281 Park Avenue south was leased instead to Fotografiska, a Swedish-based photography organization. When Anna found this information out, she was highly distraught. Even to this day, she speaks fondly about the prospect of opening a foundation, which she hopes will be an “arts-focused members club.” While she does readily admit she made some major blunders in starting ADF, she says that does not “diminish a hundred things” that Anna “did right.” She does make a good point. How else was she able to con so many celebrities, athletes, museum owners, and other trust-fund kids?
Her Dream Location
How To Get Away With Fraud
The big experts came in and crunched the numbers, and what they found was beyond startling. She was able to con her friends, banks, hotels, and other people out of over a quarter of a million dollars! How was she able to get loans from banks? She used documents that were falsified. This was the same tactic that she used to get millions of dollars out of European banks. Wondering about her checks? She floated the bad checks and took out massive credits she had no ability to pay back. While it is possible she did have a genuine interest in paying everybody back after her business took off, by the time she was caught, this was nowhere near a possibility.
How To Get Away With Fraud
Brilliant But Doomed To Fail
Defrauding businesses, banks, people, and organizations might be a petty act, but it takes the work of a genius to pull that off if you really think about it. Anna lived the life of a celebrity, and garnered the attention of thousands in America before her trial as a Soho socialite. If she had launched the Anna Delvey Foundation and earned enough to cover her $275,000 in debts, would it have been possible for her to carry on her extravagant life without anyone batting an eye? I suppose we will never know, but what we do know is that Anna Delvey paved a path for herself in NYC that none before her had done.
Brilliant But Doomed To Fail
Dropping Her A Line
Anna keeps her social life alive from Rikers Island, where a few photos have been uploaded to her Instagram account. While it seems unlikely that she has access to her Instagram account from prison, the posts are very interesting. Among the first was a detailed mailing address, where she encouraged fans to send letters to her while she passes time behind bars. She asks for no visitors, so make sure that is not in your plans, but you are welcome to send her letters and fan mail if you choose to do so!
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