A Woman Of Mystery
Anna Delvey was a woman of mystery. Everyone believed her to be a New York socialite. She seemed to always be in the right places, around the right people. She didn’t have a permanent address in the United States, and she lived in various hotels. And she would leave the country occasionally to restart her tourist visa. When she returned, he made the Soho hotel on 11 Howard Street her new home.
Neffatari Davis
Anna got close to the concierge at the hotel, Neffatari Davis, aka Neff. Neff says that Anna lived the life of a celebrity. She was always handing out $100 tips to everyone. Whether it was a hotel employee bringing her a package, an Uber driver, and even Neff herself. She also wore expensive high-end designer clothes. Neff believed that Anna fit the profile of a Soho socialite. Neff had a dream of becoming a cinematographer, and Anna often spoke about her connections. This led Neff to believe that her new best friend could really help her out.
Who Was Anna?
The people who were close to Anna didn’t know much about her. They knew that she had money and that she had a European accent, but other than that, they didn’t know much. She did tell people that she came from a European family, and she was going to be inheriting millions. She told some people that her family was into antiques, she told others that her family was in oil, and others were told that she came from “old money.” The real Anna was a mystery.
Celeb Friends
Neff says that Anna often surrounded herself with the rich and famous. She was always out with CEO’s, artists, athletes, and celebrities. Neff says that one night, they went to dinner and were sitting with Macaulay Culkin. She says that she had so many questions for the actor, but asking questions wasn’t something that the people in Anna’s circle ever did. She didn’t want to embarrass herself or Anna, so she kept her questions to herself.
Michael Xufu Huang
Anna met a successful art collector and museum founder named Michael Xufu Huang. The two became friends quickly and planned a trip to Italy to celebrate the Venice Biennale. Anna asked Michael to put the flight and the hotel on his credit card, and she would pay him back. He didn’t think much of it, and since it wasn’t a lot of money to him. He was rich. When they were in Italy, Anna paid for everything in cash. Michael thought it was a bit strange, but not a red flag. When they came home from the trip, Anna didn’t pay Michael back. He figured she forgot because that was what rich people did. Soon, he forgot about it too.
The Anna Delvey Foundation
To keep up appearances, Anna told everyone about the foundation that she was starting. She even hired a creative director to help her brand the new venture. She even found a location and a financial partner. Then, she told him that she needed his help because most of her personal assets were outside of the U.S.
Falling Apart
It wasn’t long before things started falling apart. When Anna’s hotel bill reached over $30,000, Neff’s manager asked her to tell Anna to pay up because they were friends. When Neff and Anna went to dinner, and she tried to pay with 12 different credit cards, and they were all declined, Neff began to worry. She thought that if she couldn’t pay the dinner bill, she couldn’t pay her hotel bill. Neff worried until the hotel received a wire transfer to pay her hotel bill. Because she didn’t give the hotel a working credit card after they got the wire transfer, they kicked her out of the hotel.
With no place to go, she took a trip to Morocco with her personal trainer. The trainer ended up having to pay for the trip, and later, was told if she didn’t pay the $60,000 hotel bill that she would be arrested. The trainer put the bill on her American Express card, which was more money than she made in a year. Soon, Anna had been kicked out of just about every hotel in New York, and she was asking associates to sleep on their couches.
Sharing Stories
Finally, the people in Anna’s social circle got together to talk. They all realized that Anna might not have been who they thought. Anna’s world was falling apart, and these people were ready to let her know. Rather than coming clean, she started to cry. She claimed that she would have the money to pay her friends back once her lease was signed. When they told her that her space was rented to someone else, she called it fake news. She insisted that everything was fine.
Anna’s Arrest
Finally, everything came crashing down. Anna was arrested for not paying her hotel bills. She was bailed out and got the money to take a trip to California. She was arrested again and forced to return to New York. And she was sent to Rikers Island without bail. While in jail, Anna’s story came out. She wasn’t a socialite, and her family didn’t have money. She was from Russia, and she came from a working-class family. Her real name is Anna Sorokin. She offered the judge a plea deal of three years, which the judge refused. Anna’s charges were much more serious than that. She was offered nine years in prison, which she declined. She wanted to go to trial for her crimes.
Loving Rikers
According to Anna’s lawyer, she loves Rikers Island. She calls it a social experiment and has plenty of friends. He says that Anna is especially interested in the murderers and their stories. She is still awaiting trial, and only time will tell if she will able to talk her way out of this the way that she talked her way out of everything in the past. She suspiciously paid for everything in cash for years, then people realized why. Netflix is thinking about making a show about her life.
