From BZ/afp
The German-Russian impostor Anna Sorokin, who swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars in New York as the alleged heiress Anna Delvey, is released on bail – and could soon be deported from the United States.
As a spokesman for the US immigration service ICE announced, Sorokin was conditionally released on Friday evening (local time) from the detention center in the village of Goshen, a hundred kilometers north of New York.
US media reported that Sorokin had to post bail of $10,000 (around 10,000 euros), is now under house arrest at home in New York and has to wear an electronic tag.
The German-Russian has been trying to resist deportation for 18 months.
In an interview with the New York Times over the weekend, the 31-year-old confirmed that she wanted to stay in New York. Sorokin explained why she has been resisting deportation for months: “I could have gone, but I decided against it because I’m trying to make amends for what I did wrong.”
The US authorities had issued an order for her deportation to Germany, but Sorokin initially successfully appealed and allowed her to remain in the detention center. Conditions there are far more relaxed than in a US prison.
Anna Sorokin could soon be deported from the USA (stock photo) Photo: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Born in Russia, Sorokin came to Germany at the age of 16. In 2016 she went to the USA and gave herself a new identity as the millionaire heiress Anna Delvey. In this way she swindled herself into a luxurious lifestyle at the expense of others. In 2019, she was sentenced to prison for $275,000 in fraud.
In February 2021, Sorokin was released for good behavior. A month later, however, she was arrested for exceeding her residence permit and imprisoned in the deportation center. The Netflix series “Inventing Anna”, inspired by her turbulent life as a crook, made Sorokin known worldwide.