Anna Sorokin says her scams were ‘unethical’, but won’t apologise because she’s not ‘a 12-year-old kid’
‘Who would I be apologising to for that?’ said the woman also known as Anna Delvey
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Anna Sorokin – also known as Anna Delvey – has admitted that defrauding multiple banks may have been unethical, but she won’t apologise for her crimes.
Sorokin, who is the subject of the Netflix hit Inventing Anna, was convicted of fraud and grand larceny in 2019 after passing herself off as a German heiress with a $67 million fortune. Under the name Anna Delvey, she swindled her way through elite Manhattan social circles, successfully conning friends and big banks out of an estimated $275,000 in all.
In an interview with NBC News which aired 16 June, host Savannah Sellers asked Sorokin if she thought defrauding banks was wrong. Sorokin replied: “Yeah, that was definitely unethical, yes. I would not encourage anybody else to follow my footsteps.”
But whether she owes anyone an apology for her crimes is a different story.
“You mean for what? I’m not a 12-year-old kid,” Sorokin said. “Who would I be apologising to for that?”
“I never really had any malicious intent,” she added. “And I’m not just like this vicious scamming person trying to take advantage of anybody who’s just stupid enough to fall for it.”
Anna Sorokin was released from prison in February 2021, before being taken back into ICE custody for violating the terms of her visa. Now, the 31-year-old is being held at the Orange County Correctional Facility in upstate New York while she fights her deportation.
In the meantime, Sorokin hopes to explore a new passion of hers – law.
“Hopefully, I’ll be given a chance to focus all my energy into something legal,” Sorokin explained to Sellers. “I’d love to be given an opportunity for people not to just dismiss me as like a quote-unquote scammer and just see what I’m going to do next.”
Sorokin has already launched a number of projects from ICE detention, including two pop-up art shows in New York City. In May, The Independent attended her second art show – titled “Allegedly” – which featured a collection of 20 pieces created by Sorokin herself over the previous two months.
This week, the convicted scammer unveiled a line of NFTs called “Reinventing Anna”, which gives buyers access to Sorokin through one-on-one phone calls or by meeting her in person.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments