Fraudster Anna Delvey on house arrest: ‘They told me I’d get deported to Mars before I’d get out in New York’

Fake German heiress Anna Delvey, the subject of hit Netflix drama Inventing Anna, has spoken about her release from prison on house arrest and “trying to fix what I’ve done wrong”.

In her first interview after her release from the Orange County Detention Centre – where she spent 18 months after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) determined she had overstayed her visa – Delvey said she was “really happy” to return to Manhattan, and lauded her attorney for “aligning with her vision” and fighting to get her bail.

“Nothing was guaranteed. They denied bail before. It was an exercise in perseverance,” Delvey told The New York Times. “So many immigration lawyers told me I’d get deported to Mars before I’d get out in New York. And I just had to find the person who [wouldn’t] accept ‘no’ for an answer and make it happen.”

Delvey, 31, conned friends and big banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars before she was convicted in 2019 of fraud and grand larceny and sentenced to between four and 12 years in prison. After paying back her victims, Delvey was briefly released in February 2021 before she was arrested by ICE.

A judge ordered her release on house arrest earlier this week after finding that her status “as a public figure” made it difficult for her to avoid detention, and her “risk of flight [is] sufficiently mitigated”, according to filings obtained by The Daily Beast.

Delvey told the Times that she did not want to fight her immigration case from Germany because she didn’t want people to think she only cares about “obscene wealth” and could not handle a period in jail.

She added: “... and that’s just not the reality. I could have left, but I chose not to because I’m trying to fix what I’ve done wrong. I have so much history in New York and I felt like if I were in Europe, I’d be running from something. But if jail does not prove people wrong, then what will?” she said.

When asked about how she got the money to pay for her $10,000 bail and her East Village apartment rent – which included three months upfront – Delvey simply told the Times “to ask the government”. She added that the money was hers.

“John [Sandweg], my lawyer, found [the apartment] for me. I obviously wasn’t able to do anything from jail. I have a great team around me, so it was all thanks to them,” she further explained.

As for the benefits that she’ll be getting on house arrest, Delvey said she expects better food and is excited about having visitors past 1.30pm on Thursdays.

Delvey also told the Times that she now has a better relationship with her parents, and calls them “every other day”. Although she is excited about resuming her work in art, Delvey said she has a lot more going on and has recently been working on a podcast.

“But it’s not shaped up yet. It was pretty hard to record anything high-quality from jail,” Delvey said. “And then there’s my book. I’d love to do something with criminal-justice reform to kind of highlight the struggles of other girls.”

She added that she will not give critics the satisfaction of seeing her fail, and warn them not to expect her to do anything “crazy or illegal”.

“I learned so much being in jail. There’s a very well-documented arc about how I’ve felt about everything. It wouldn’t be right if I were just to switch in one day,” Delvey told the Times. “I am regretful about the way things played out. The way I’ve tried to see my experience is to learn from it: Who I am today is because of the decisions I made in the past.”

In a ruling earlier this week, Judge Conroy said that Delvey had demonstrated “interest in pursuing legitimate employment in the United States, pursuits that will face heavy public scrutiny”, which ultimately will lessen her flight risk.

At her trial in 2019, Ms Devey was found guilty of scamming more than $200,000 (£147,000) from hotels, banks and other institutions. She disguised herself as a German heiress in order to swindle large sums from associates and friends.

The Russian-born con artist’s story was dramatised in the Netflix series Inventing Anna. Insider reported Netflix paid Delvey $320,000, but her funds were frozen and used to pay her victims.