The German-Russian impostor Anna Sorokin threatens a long prison sentence. A jury has spoken the 28-year-old guilty of performance dereliction and serious theft. The sentence will be announced on 9 May, the maximum sentence is 15 years in prison.
Sorokin pretended to be Anna Delvey, claiming to have inherited a fortune of 60 million euros. Sometimes she said that her father was a diplomat. Sometimes he was said to have been a rich oil baron.
According to the indictment, she has brought her victims a total of $ 275,000. She should have lent cleverly and appear self-confident. So she had managed to get from tens of thousands of dollars in loans from various banks, to travel free in private planes or to live for months in luxury hotels in Manhattan, without paying the bills. Prosecutor Catherine McCaw accused her of acting with "criminal intent" during the trial.
"You gave it to her"
Sorokin's lawyer Todd Spodek dismissed the allegations. "She did not do anything to take the money from the New Yorkers - they gave it to her." She tried to repay the money, but needed more time. His client was angry about the guilty verdict of the jury.
Sorokin was born near Moscow and the daughter of a truck driver. When she was 16 years old, the family went to Germany. Sorokin went to school in Eschweiler near Cologne. In 2016 she came to the USA.
The case has caused quite a stir in the US. The streaming service Netflix and the broadcaster HBO are already planning to film the story.