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In this episode of American Greed, Anna Delvey is everywhere a downtown

Manhattan socialite wants to be.

Money, connections, she had it all. You wanted to be her.

With VIP access to everything cool in New York art and fashion.

You wanted to be seen with her. She knew exactly how to use social media to

bolster that image.

She had over 40 ,000 Instagram followers.

A social connector who easily draws in friends.

Here is this person I liked who seems really excited to spend time with me. I

was flattered by her attention.

But the public face of Anna Delvey hides a litany of secrets.

She looked out of place like she didn't belong there.

She says she's a German heiress.

But her friends start asking questions.

You have to. Family? Like living family?

Do you even have family?

This person I'd spent so much time with wasn't at all what I believed her to be.

Who Anna Delvey really is, is a young woman accused of trying to swindle more

than $25 million from Manhattan financiers and who would sell out her

friends to get what she wants.

I'd be up late at night having panic attacks, you know, just like pleading

her, trying to find something that would explain it or fix it.

One of the oldest types of cons is the imposter. Cheers.

Especially someone with a lot of power, someone with a lot of influence, and

Anna Delvey was that someone.

Downtown New York City, epicenter of a young, chic, creative world,

where in 2016, 28 -year -old Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel

Williams' life intersects with that of Anna Delvey, a new face on the scene.

I met Anna out in New York one evening. I had gone out for some drinks with some

girls I knew, and Anna joined us at this lounge on the Lower East Side.

And I had seen Anna in photos on Instagram and saw that she had over 40

Instagram followers.

She had a lot of artsy photos of travel and art and shopping,

pictures with people in the fashion world.

Rachel and Anna hit it off and begin a friendship, although their lives

be more different.

Anna has an unusual and somewhat fabulous address.

She lives at the Eleven Howard, an exclusive and sceny Soho hotel, popular

with fashion and art professionals, with rooms starting at more than $500 a

night. So a lot of Anna's lifestyle was very different than mine in all sorts of

different ways. For instance, her living in a hotel full time.

I didn't know anybody else like that.

For Rachel Williams, the timing is right for a new friendship.

I had just gotten out of a long -term relationship, and here is this person I

like who's living walking distance from my apartment who seems really excited to

spend time with me.

We would often eat dinner or have drinks in her hotel, and she would always sign

the bill to her room.

The seemingly endless flow of champagne is more than Rachel can afford.

But Anna doesn't seem to mind.

She asked me at some point how much I made, so she knew what my financial

situation was, but she really liked these expensive experiences.

Anna was like, it's more fun to have someone there with me, so I was happy to

with her.

When she is not treating friends to luxury experiences and being seen at all

most exclusive downtown restaurants, clubs, and events, Anna Delvey is

on her pet project.

An audacious concept she calls the Anna Delvey Foundation.

She wanted to create this giant art gallery space, a members -only club,

restaurants, bars, lounges. And she had been meeting with lawyers and bankers

trying to finalize the lease.

Her foundation claims to have a board of directors with a who's who of top -tier

artists, collectors, real estate moguls, and restaurateurs.

Anna hires a London -based design firm to bring her vision to life in the form

of an 83 -page PDF laying out her plans.

I mean, it ranged from exhibitions by top artists like Cindy Sherman and

Arsham and Earth Fisher, who again are, you know, top, top blue chip

contemporary, to multiple restaurants, artist residencies, a German bakery, a

very exclusive club.

According to Artnet reporter Eileen Kinsella, in the New York art world, it

not out of the ordinary that a 20 -something with a trust fund and a

for modern art could be taken seriously.

I would have thought this is a very wealthy person with extremely high

and essentially the power to make it happen because I do feel a lot in the

world that things will come on our radar where it's a younger collector who

clearly has access to a lot of funds and is able to easily immerse themselves in

the art world and figure out who the best artists are and establish

sort of on the scene. And that's clearly what she did.

The Anna Delvey Foundation centers on leasing a historic building at 281 Park

Avenue South.

It has this gothic architecture. It's very stunning.

And she claimed that she was negotiating a lease, part of which involved going

to City National. That was one of the banks that she approached and saying

she needed a $30 million loan in order to make this happen.

And that claim linked to another claim that she made, which was that she was a

German heiress and that when she turned 25, she was going to be entitled to a 60

million euro inheritance.

I admired that she was so motivated to do something with that wealth.

And I admired her ambition and her focus.

Anna spends much of her time networking with influential people, including the

CEO of Blade, a private jet rental company.

When Anna says she needs to fly to Omaha, Nebraska to attend the Berkshire

Hathaway annual shareholders meeting, she books a private jet through Blade

doesn't blink at the $35 ,000 price tag for a round -trip flight to attend to

what she says is family business.

It seems to be just another day in the fabulous life of the German heiress.

A week after her return from Omaha, Anna tells Rachel Williams that her visa is

expiring and she needs to leave the country to reset it.

Rather than return home to Germany, Anna decides she wants a more extraordinary

trip to Marrakesh, Morocco.

As socialites are wont to do, she decides she needs her every move

She had this idea that she wanted to create a documentary about the creation

her art foundation.

And to do that, she wanted to first see what it was like to have someone around

with a video camera.

So she framed the trip to Morocco as though it were going to be this business

expense, and she was going to create some sort of footage from it.

When Anna's preferred videographer backs out, Rachel introduces Anna to her

friend, Jesse Hawk.

Right away, I got the sense that she was very self -important.

And she kind of demanded a certain amount of attention by the way she

herself.

She was really good at projecting the way she wanted to be perceived, that her

ideas were unique or noteworthy.

One week later, she had reserved this private villa at La Mamunia, which is

extremely opulent five -star resort in Marrakesh. And she booked it and then

like, who else should we invite?

So she decided to bring the personal trainer who we'd been working out with,

well as a videographer.

As it's a business expense, Anna has offered to cover the cost of the trip

all of her invited guests.

But the day before they are supposed to leave, she hasn't booked the flights.

So I'm texting back and forth with her, you know, I found these flights that

could work for everybody, like, how can I help you?

So I book four one -way flights using her credit card, but it doesn't go

through.

So I tell Anna, like, you need to call your bank. It's like $4 ,000, I think.

you know, assume that it's been flagged for fraud. Then it created this sort of

false sense of urgency, I think, which, you know, motivated me to say, oh,

should I use my card and you pay me back?

And she said, yeah, only if that's okay for you, I can wire you on Monday.

Rachel Williams says she fronts the cost for the flights to Morocco.

So that's how it started.

It started with the flights, four one -way flights, about $4 ,000.

Next on American Greed, Anna Delvey's generosity seems as grandiose as her

of luxury.

She just can't seem to access her accounts right now.

I wish at that point I had realized this person can't be trusted, but I still

had the sense that she was who she said she was.

Anna Delby and her entourage arrive at JFK Airport to fly out of New York City

on first -class tickets to Marrakesh, Morocco.

Anna's friend, Rachel Williams, says she buys the tickets believing that Anna

will reimburse her.

But the expenses don't stop there.

Well, we go to check in.

When there's an issue, Anna has accidentally checked her wallet that she

her credit cards in. So she has her passport and nothing else.

But because she already owes me money, she says, can we just add, you know, the

checked baggage to what I already owe you?

So it was like one thing and then another thing.

And then, of course, for the rest of the time, I booked flights that had a six

-hour layover in Lisbon. So I'm paying for meals for everybody, starting in the

airport before we even arrived to Marrakesh.

La Mamunia in Marrakesh is one of the cheapest, priciest resorts in the world

and a favorite with the fashion set.

Anna reserved their most expensive room, a three -bedroom, $7 ,500 -a -night

Riyadh or villa for the week.

The hotel has, like, four restaurants and three bars and sprawling gardens and

private pool.

It was ridiculous.

Anna spent money.

Like there was an endless supply.

We were drinking two, three, four hundred dollars worth of wine or

every day.

Documenting Anna is like watching one of your friends texting people on their

phone all day or sleeping or eating or drinking.

I've got about 378 shots of Anna on her phone, though.

And so we kind of waited on her a lot, or just whatever her whims were.

We went into this place called the Medina, which is this old ancient

marketplace. It's a walled compound. You walk through it. And Anna was really

focused on trying to buy some caftans, some Moroccan dresses.

So we were shown to this dress store, and Anna picked out $1 ,300 worth of...

jumpsuit, dresses, all of these things, goes to use her card, and of course it's

again declined.

Rachel Williams is covering the incidentals, but there is a larger issue

Mamunia. They hadn't been paid a cent, and Anna just kept saying the same

things. She was a broken record, you know, like, I don't understand. I've

you the routing number, or I've given you the bank code. I don't know why

bothering me about this.

The situation comes to a head when hotel security confronts Anna about her

failure to pay for the villa.

It was alarming to me. She seemed disconnected, I think, from the urgency

situation.

But she told me she was waiting on calls to be returned.

One of the managers looked at me and was like, do you have a credit card?

And I looked to Anna like, what?

And she goes, can we just use it for now? The men weren't.

They weren't smiling. I was intimidated, and I felt pressured from Anna as well.

Rachel Williams hands over her credit card and is told there will be a hold

placed on the card until Anna Delvey's funds are accessible.

The next day, Rachel leaves Marrakesh for a work trip, only to find out that

hold on her credit card at La Malmuña isn't just a hold.

With no other form of payment ever presented, they run the entire cost of

stay, splitting the charges on her personal and corporate American Express

for a total of $62 ,000.

She says, I'll wire you $70 ,000 on Monday to make sure all your expenses

covered.

When I left, I had sent Anna an email saying, okay, the amount you owe me is

like, I think it was like $9 ,000 for the flights and everything outside the

hotel.

I didn't know it's possible for the entire hotel to go on my credit card.

Next on American Greed.

Anna Delvey's failure to pay for her lavish Moroccan vacation is only the

clue that her pedigree might not be legit.

I knew there was more to it. I didn't know the extent, but I knew she was not

being 100 % with me.

Rachel Williams is a desperate woman.

Two months after unexpectedly footing the bill for a nearly $70 ,000 Moroccan

vacation that she says her friend Anna Delvey promised to reimburse, Williams

still trying to get her money back, more than she made in a year at the time,

from an elusive Anna.

Over that period of time, that was by far, like, the darkest time of my life

far.

I was barely holding it together. I would, you know, be unable to sleep. I'd

up late at night having panic attacks.

I would wake up, you know, at 3 a .m., 4 a .m., just filled with so much stress,

texting her, like, this really needs to be resolved. I don't understand why

there's a delay.

You know, just like pleading with her, trying to find something that would

explain it or fix it.

For weeks, Anna Delvey says that her family accountant is working to wire the

money from Germany.

But it's tied up for various reasons.

And no actual funds have made it to Rachel.

Jesse Hawk says he is also owed money by Anna for video services he provided on

the trip at Anna's request.

I was constantly in contact with Anna through text message or email.

I knew that Anna was the type of person that if you upset her, she would just

write you off.

So... I was being as nice as I could be while asking her to please reimburse me

for my expenses.

I'm glad I wasn't Rachel because she certainly was in a situation that was

more difficult than my own.

Five weeks after returning from Morocco, Rachel still holds on to hope that Anna

is simply a rich kid who's irresponsible with money and that she will eventually

get paid back.

But in July of 2017, everything changes.

Anna Delvey is arrested outside the swanky Beekman Hotel for failing to pay

$12 ,000 hotel bill.

Anna enlists the help of criminal defense attorney Todd Spodek.

The very first time I met her, she comes into my office and she's overwhelmed.

The general feel was that she did nothing wrong.

That she is not guilty of any crimes and it is a misunderstanding from

everyone's point of view, which is common in criminal defense. A lot of

often have misunderstandings that lead them to being prosecuted. Very strange.

For Spodek, the case is routine.

Misdemeanor charges he thinks he can wrap up pretty easily.

In September 2017,

Spodek appears in Manhattan District Court with his client.

We appeared in court thinking nothing of it, and that was the first time the

media got wind of the case.

Something about Anna Delvey catches the eye of freelance New York Post

photographer Stephen Hirsch.

I just had a feeling that there was something interesting about her. She

a little out of place. She looked a little scared.

And so I photographed her from a distance with a long lens.

I mentioned it to the reporter after.

On July 31st, 2017, the New York Post website headline reads, Wannabe

socialite busted for skipping out on pricey hotel bills.

Meanwhile, Rachel Williams and a couple of friends decide it's time to confront

Anna Delvey face -to -face.

They set up a lunch meeting at a crowded restaurant on Manhattan's West Side.

Williams decides to secretly record the conversation.

You know, it started out, I think, just like, what's going on?

Why is this problem happening? Why can't you access your money?

And she would say things like, it's not my fault. It was a lot of blaming other

people. She'd blame her lawyers, her bankers.

We asked her questions about, like, who are your parents? Like, what are their

names?

Do you have family?

Like, living family?

Do you even have family?

She gave this fictitious name for her dad. I remember it was like Daniel

Delvey. She would make up these sort of lies on the spot.

At the end of the meeting, Rachel Williams finally realizes that Anna

not the friend or the person she believed her to be.

I remember texting with the videographer and he was like, do you think she's...

a fraud, or do you think this is just a case of, like, rich girl can't access

her money or something? And I was like, no, I think it's a long -game con.

The next day, Williams contacts the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

And I sent them a link to one of the tabloid articles, and they said, you

I think this girl's a con artist.

I really would like to speak to somebody I have information to share.

I ended up getting a phone call and taking my little binder of evidence

to the DA's office and sitting down with two prosecutors who basically said, you

know, we think you're right and anything you can tell us will be useful.

Next on American Greed, the stakes are about to get much higher for Anna

who is not just walking out on hotel bills.

She's trying to secure $22 million.

The bank documents that she had provided.

which showed that she had about 60 million euro overseas in a trust fund,

fake.

In a New York City conference room, 24 -year -old Anna Delvey sits down with a

banker and makes a lofty request.

Anna Delvey had entered a city national bank located in Manhattan and attempted

to procure a loan for about $25 million.

Anna had stated to them that she was trying to get that loan in order to

up a business, which was supposed to be a museum of sorts, like an art lounge,

in Manhattan.

Delvey provides German bank documents showing a 60 million euro trust in her

name. But given her lack of financial history, City National denies the loan.

So Anna Delvey tries to get one elsewhere, this time with Fortress

Fortress Investment had drafted a contract stating that they could

give her $30 million predicated off of a background check.

Fortress Investment requested $100 ,000 from Anna so they could do their due

diligence on her.

Anna not having those funds.

went back to City National Bank and requested that they give her $100 ,000

she could give the $100 ,000 to Fortress.

City National Bank approves Anna's loan.

Anna was given the loan in early 2017.

So by May of 2017,

City National Bank saw that they weren't receiving any payments from Anna, and

that's when they contacted the authorities.

Detective Michael McCaffrey of the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force takes the

case.

They asked what kind of documentation she had provided and what made the bank

investigators think that this was a criminal act.

They told me that they believed the bank documents that she had provided, which

showed that she had about 60 million euro overseas in a trust fund, were

McCaffrey can find little information on the suspect.

We had gotten her Instagram page, and she had gone by the name Anna Delvey.

So we conduct our background checks on this individual, and we're not seeing

anything substantial under the name Anna Delvey.

At some point, we were able to ascertain that Anna's real name was Anna Sorokin.

Background checks led us to believe that Anna Sorokin was born in Russia and was

also a German citizen.

McCaffrey then learns of Anna's recent arrest on theft of services charges for

skipping out on her luxury hotel bill.

Detectives keep digging and find other banks Anna had frequented.

We found that Anna was opening bank accounts and writing checks to herself

depositing them into other bank accounts she had.

That seems benign, however.

She knew that she had a balance lower than the amount she was writing for the

check.

It's called check kiting.

And Anna Delby pockets nearly $80 ,000 in the scheme.

Once the funds would post or half post, and before the other bank knew that she

had $0 in her first bank, she was withdrawing the cash.

The banks would subsequently close these accounts, but they're still at a loss.

McCaffrey also finds a complaint against Anna Delvey from a private jet rental

company, Blade.

In May of 2017, Anna had taken a flight to Omaha for a conference,

and she was able, on credit, to get a personal plane that flew her down to

Omaha.

Anna never paid the $35 ,000 tab.

In August of 2017, Detective McCaffrey presents his evidence to the Manhattan

District Attorney's Office.

A couple weeks later, the DA's office reaches out with another possible crime

add to Anna Delvey's growing list.

The District Attorney's Office had contacted me and said I should speak

individual named Rachel Williams, who stated she was a former friend of Anna,

and she had been duped out of approximately $62 ,000 on a trip.

I wasn't going to just wave a white flag and be like, okay, like, that's mine

now.

It was reassuring to find allies who felt motivated, you know, in continuing

the investigation.

Rachel never received any of the money that Anna had promised her for this

Before we had moved to an indictment of Anna, we added Rachel's complaint to our

case.

A grand jury indicts Anna Sorokin, a .k .a. Anna Delvey, on seven counts, and an

arrest warrant is issued.

At this point, she was able to acquire $100 ,000, and she got pretty close

to a $25, $30 million loan.

We know that she was able to board a private plane, fly to Omaha, Nebraska.

She was smart enough to steal $80 ,000 from a couple of banks.

So we didn't know what Anna was going to do next.

Anna Sorokin, the so -called fake German heiress, is scheduled to appear in

Manhattan court on three misdemeanor charges.

But the 26 -year -old is nowhere to be found.

I'm calling her and texting her, and my office is trying to reach her, and she's

not there.

Her attorney, Todd Spodek, is not the only one looking for Anna.

The NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force has a warrant for her arrest.

I had canvassed the local hotels that Anna might be staying at to see if she

currently residing there, which she was not.

We attempted to track her phone, but the phone was off.

So anytime we try and call the phone, it wouldn't go through.

Detective McCaffrey turns to Anna's former friend Rachel Williams for help.

And after she didn't show up in court, I got a phone call from the NYPD and the

DA's office asking if I were to text her whether she'd respond.

So I did reach out to her, and over the course of the months that followed, had

to rebuild kind of a trust there and ultimately figure out where she'd gone.

Through a series of text messages, Rachel is able to find out that Anna is

somewhere near Los Angeles.

This happened slowly. It wasn't like fast -fire conversation. It happened

the course of days.

I'm in California.

Then she told me she was in a hospital.

For every 10 questions I would ask her, she maybe answered one or would say

something else.

So it was hard to get more information.

Rachel finally learns that Anna has checked into a rehab facility.

Unbeknownst to Anna, she was giving Rachel subtle clues as to where she was

staying. She had referenced the tennis court.

She had referenced the view of the ocean.

We were able to deduce which rehab facility Anna was staying at.

Police figure out that in true Anna Delvey fashion, she has checked into the

most expensive rehab facility in North America, in Malibu, California, called

Passages.

I'm not sure exactly how Anna was paying for...

this very luxurious and high -end rehab facility.

However, given her previous criminal history and her grandiose lifestyle, it

would not have surprised me if she had coerced her way into that facility with

false promises of later payment.

Ultimately, I was traveling to L .A. for work and she suggested we meet up while

I was in town.

New York detectives see their opportunity to pounce.

and ask Rachel to lure Anna out of rehab for lunch.

The day before and the day of our lunch date, she was asking me for favors. She

was asking me to go out and buy vodka and to pour it in water bottles and then

to bring it to her in Malibu.

Just the complete disconnectedness of her from the reality of our situation

the way that her behavior affected other people.

It was so troubling that I didn't see any other way.

Anna agreed to lunch, and on that day, the Los Angeles Police Department was

waiting outside of Passages.

Anna left to take a taxi to go see her friend, Rachel, and at that point, she

was arrested.

Anna Delvey is booked into the L .A. County Jail, where she remains for 21

without anyone to smuggle in vodka or champagne or designer clothes.

Until she is extradited to New York.

Detective McCaffrey goes to L .A. and flies her back.

I remember putting my handcuffs on her, and it was an exhilarating feeling.

We put her in the back of the car, and we drove her. And I remember the song

Paradise City by Guns N' Roses was on.

And I thought it was so ironic because there was nothing paradise about going

jail in Los Angeles and being flown back to New York and continuing to serve

time over there.

So her paradise had ended at that point.

Manhattan court photographer Stephen Hirsch is there to capture the fallen

heiress' dramatic return.

I photographed her in the hallway. She was wearing a...

It looked like a plastic black jumpsuit. It was really shiny, I remember, and

she looked dogged.

And she had her head down, and she looked distressed.

Anna walks right past her lawyer, who hasn't seen or heard from her in three

weeks since she skipped town.

So that day is when I found out about the new case, the indictment for all the

charges, and I was...

surprised to say the least at the time anna fled new york she was facing three

misdemeanor charges now she's in a world of hurt indicted by a grand jury on

six counts of felony fraud and one misdemeanor count for theft of services

realized that there was a tremendous more details that i had no idea about

that now we're looking at three cases and The exposure is quite high.

Once the charges are made public, Anna quickly becomes a tabloid and internet

sensation.

Con artists are able to get people to hand everything over willingly.

And I think that that's what we're fascinated by because there is an

it. I think it seems a little intoxicating to us. We say, oh, you

really clever.

That's kind of cool.

No one really got hurt, so you kind of admire them almost.

This was part of her mystique.

Once she got her foot in the door with a few celebrities, a few influencers, a

few key fashion people, all of a sudden people could look at that and say, ooh,

I want to be in those pictures.

I want that to be me.

But will a jury be sympathetic to Anna?

That is the question for her attorney, Todd Spodek.

as he tries to convince her that a plea bargain is in her best interest.

Anna, however, has other ideas.

Anna's decision was, listen, I want to go to trial. And as a criminal defense

lawyer, you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, because even if

you feel that a plea bargain is best, it's the client's choice, ultimately.

I've never seen a con artist want to take a plea deal, because that's not

they're about.

They are about showmanship, and they have an overblown sense of confidence.

If she took a plea deal, it would have been in, you know, page 12 of the

newspaper.

So she got one more shot in the spotlight, which I think he wanted.

Next on American Greed, Anna Delvey, facing up to 12 years in prison, turns

trial into a courtroom runway.

There was a stylist that was hired to bring her outfits.

It was all about the clothes.

What was she wearing and what label was it?