Netflix has paid Anna Sorokin $320,000 for the rights to tell the story of how she faked out banks by pretending to be a German heiress named Anna Delvey who had a $60million trust fund. The story will be adapted into a TV series.
Sorokin, 29, has already used the money to pay $199,000 in restitution to the banks she scammed, Insider reports. Another $24,000 has also been paid in state fines.
Her funds were initially frozen by New York state in May 2019 under the ‘Son of Sam’ law, designed to stop criminals from making money from their crimes.
Ahead of her expected release, however, Albany County judge Richard Platkin ordered the Office of Victim Services (OVS) Thursday to unfreeze her bank account so that she could continue making payments to her victims.
Anna Sorokin, 29, has already used the money to pay $199,000 in restitution to the banks she scammed. Another $24,000 has also been paid in state fines.
Shonda Rhimes’s production company, Shondaland, is producing ‘Inventing Anna.’ The TV show will star Ozark’s Julia Garner (pictured) as Sorokin
Sorokin is currently incarcerated at Albion Correctional Facility, a medium-security facility in upstate New York, and is eligible for release as soon as February 15, 2021 – but faces deportation to Germany upon her release.
In April 2019, Sorokin was convicted of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, theft of services, and larceny in the second degree for defrauding New York hotels and wealthy acquaintances.
Sorokin is serving 4 to 12 years in state prison but has been granted early release in February, according to a New York State Department of Corrections spokesperson.
During the month-long trial, jurors were told how Sorokin lived in luxury New York hotel rooms that she couldn’t afford, promised a friend an all-expenses trip to Morocco and then stiffed her with the $62,000 bill and peddled bogus bank statements in her quest for a $22 million loan for a private arts club.
In April 2019, Sorokin was convicted of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, theft of services, and larceny in the second degree for defrauding New York hotels and wealthy acquaintances
During the month-long trial, jurors were told how Sorokin lived in luxury New York hotel rooms that she couldn’t afford, promised a friend an all-expenses trip to Morocco and then stiffed her with the $62,000 bill and peddled bogus bank statements in her quest for a $22 million loan for a private arts club
Ahead of the order from Judge Platkin, Sorokin agreed to pay $70,000 in restitution she still needed to pay to Citibank. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Sorokin had already paid $100,000 she owed to City National Bank.
Sorokin has also paid $75,000 in attorney fees and will have additional fees once her legal proceedings in the case have come to an end. She’ll be left with pennies if anything from her Netflix deal, following the payments.
She could have kept the payment from Netflix a little longer, according to experts, because she had already filed a direct appeal in her criminal case.
Had the appeal been successful, Sorokin may not have had to pay anything at all.
She could have kept the payment from Netflix a little longer, according to experts, because she had already filed a direct appeal in her criminal case
Even though she didn’t believe she stole it, Sorokin (pictured) did feel she owed City National Bank and Citibank money, according to her attorney in the appellate case, Audrey A. Thomas
‘If the appeal would overturn her conviction, all with the judgment —financial and punitive and otherwise — would be gone,’ said Dmitriy Shakhnevich, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Shakhnevich is an expert in the ‘Son of Sam’ law.
Even though she didn’t believe she stole it, Sorokin did feel she owed City National Bank and Citibank money, according to her attorney in the appellate case, Audrey A. Thomas.
‘She said, “You know, I want them to be paid. I didn’t steal the money, but I do owe money, so I’m not going to fight it. That’s not who I am,”‘ Thomas said.
Thomas argued that the case should have been a civil case and never a considered a criminal matter.
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HBO is also doing their own project in relation to Sorokin, but through the story of Rachel Williams, a former friend of the grifter who was duped out of $62,000 by the fake heiress
‘She didn’t stick up the bank. She didn’t rob anyone,’ Thomas added. ‘Okay — she did not pay her debt on time, and she said she’s Anna Delvey when she’s really Anna Sorokin — but the reality is, it really doesn’t really fit clearly into a criminal statute.’
For Sorokin, the appeal case is important because it shows that she is not a criminal.
‘It clears her name and that’s important. It’s in her interest to pursue the appeal because she has her whole identity riding on this,’ Thomas said.
Sorokin could still be sued in civil court by Signature Bank and helicopter company Blade, even though they missed the window for seeking payments from the grifter’s account while it was frozen. The fake heiress was convicted on one count of third-degree larceny against Signature Bank and one county of theft of services against Blade.
Shonda Rhimes’s production company, Shondaland, is producing ‘Inventing Anna.’ The TV show will star Ozark’s Julia Garner as Sorokin. Production on the show was delayed because of the pandemic but it is slated to be released later in the year.
Netflix could not be reached for a comment.
HBO is also doing their own project in relation to Sorokin, but through the story of Rachel Williams, a former friend of the grifter who was duped out of $62,000 by the fake heiress. Williams would eventually write a Vanity Fair article and book, ‘My Friend Anna,’ about her time with Sorokin.
