Starting Off
Anna Delvey was living in upper-class Soho and staying in the iconic 11 Howard Street hotel. The area was mobbed with socialites, actors, models, and other high-class people. Delvey purposefully chose this area because she knew that everyone had full pockets, and she wanted to be in their inner circles so badly…
The First Friend
She was able to make her way around city social socials quickly and mimic the behaviors of the people she was trying to be friends with. For example, she always made a big show of tipping any hotel staff and waiters she came across $100 bills. It ended up working and impressing those she wanted to impress. Then, he met Neffatari Davis, an aspiring cinematographer.
Friend Circles
The two became quick friends, even though Davis had a weird feeling about Delvey. Davis began to invite Delvey out to bars, clubs, and restaurants, which meant that Delvey was meeting more and more people. She was instantly likable and charming, and she constantly impressed people with the way she treated the staff.
Rich and… Jobless?
Delvey was quickly welcomed into the scene. Despite not working at all, she seemed to have more than enough money to be partying with everyone. She even hired a personal trainer for $4,500 a month. No one was really questioning how she was getting the money for being jobless…
Living Large
It didn’t take long for her to begin hosting her own parties and dinners to further expand her network. She was obviously social climbing and didn’t care if people began to catch on. Everyone still seemed to love her. Soon, Davis herself started to notice a pattern…
They Trusted Her
The persona that Delvey took on was charming, generous, and easy to get along with. She treated everyone equally and with respect, no matter their social status. She also tried to impress everybody by throwing money around like it was nothing… And, it worked.
GlobalÂ
It didn’t take very long for her to become a big name in the NYC socialite world. Once she became a regular at all of the hot spots in the city, she took it around the globe. She took her and her friends on expensive trips all over the world and always paid in cash…
Michael Xufu Huang
Museum founder and art collector Michael Xufu Huang and Delvey became very close. The two met at an art show and were attracted to each others charm. Huang began to bring Delvey along with him around the world. One of these trips would end up harshly exposing Delvey’s true plans…
Suspicious Behavior
One trip, in particular, was the true beginning to her end. Delvey advised Huang that he should put all of the expenses of the trip on his personal credit card so she can pay him later in cash. He agreed although he was hesitant. Since they were friends and she hadn’t burned him yet, she agreed. She said couldn’t book hotel rooms in cash so he needed some help. He never asked why she couldn’t get a credit card, which was his first mistake.Â
Dodging Payments
Huang ended up taking care of all of the flights and hotels. When they made it back to New York, Delvey completely ignored him. Whenever he tried to get at her for the money, she would ghost him. Once, when he was finally able to confront her face to face, she apologized and said that she forgot. Needless to say, he never saw that money again.Â
Getting Sloppy
Delvey was getting too comfortable. She was spending more and more money as well as asking for more favors. She ended up trying to throw a huge party in one of the nicest clubs and tried hiring PR… That was a mistake.
Any Payment?
The PR folk helped Delvey throw one of the biggest parties and it was a huge success. Once payment was due, Delvey was nowhere to be found. Huang was currently the one closest to Delvey and even he didn’t know where she was.Â
MIA
This was officially suspicious. Huang started asking around. No one had heard from her in days. Some even thought she fled back to Russia to avoid all of her debt…
The ADF
While everyone in NYC was looking for her, she was doing something off on her own. She was working on developing the Anna Delvey Foundation with a British art director.
Needs Money
In order to get this foundation up and running, Delvey needed some money. At this point, she was obviously running out of her seemingly endless money. Eventually, she found a financial partner to help her out. In order to convince them to work with her, she turned on her Russian accent and said that she had a lot of money, but it was just outside of the U.S. And, they foolishly believed her.Â
Martin ShkreliÂ
Delvey began to go outside of her social circles in order to get some more money. She ended up meeting Martin Shkreli, one of the biggest convicted scammers out there. He ended up giving her some advice…
Truth Is: She Had No Idea What She Was Doing
Delvey began to work with lawyers and investors to try and get her foundation up and running. This was an upgrade from her usual hotels, bars, and clubs route. Now, she was running into problems…
People Are Catching On
Things were quickly catching up to her. It was becoming more and more clear to the people she was working with that the money she claimed she had didn’t exist. Even the 11 Howard Hotel was catching on… They hadn’t received payment and they were about to evict her.
Debt
The hotel asked Davis, Delvey’s friend who still worked there, what was up. Delvey owed nearly $30,000 in rent and expenses. Davis was shocked.Â
More Lies
When Davis confronted her, Delvey claimed that she didn’t know what was going on. She brushed it off as a misunderstanding. Naturally, Davis didn’t buy it. Delvey said that she had a wire transfer was coming and to not worry… But, would it ever come?Â
The Wire Transfer
Things were looking grim, but somehow, it worked. The wire transfer went through and Delvey was able to pay her debts to the hotel. Davis was still suspicious about her so-called friend.Â
The Same Mistakes
Unphased, Delvey continued to live her hasty life. She continued to go out and party non-stop. The hotel eventually asked for a working credit card on Delvey’s room. She refused to update her payment as she said that one should be working fine. They kicked her out.Â
Tricks of the Trade
In spite, she decided to use the advice that Shkreli gave her that one night. She ended up purchasing the web domains in all of the hotel managers names so that they’d have to pay her a crazy amount of money to buy them off of her. This was a huge red flag for everyone that knew her. People starting raising the alarm about her, so she quickly fled to Morocco.
While In Morocco
She decided to take her personal trainer and videographer friend on the trip with her. They didn’t think anything was weird at first and were excited to go on a vacation. The trainer eventually went back to NYC because she got sick. This was bad for Delvey, as she was planning on having her trainer pay for everything so Delvey could eventually “pay her back,” but not really…
Getting Sloppier
She called her trainer and begged for money. At this time, the Moroccan police were on her tail and they were threatening to arrest her because of her unpaid bills. The trainer reluctantly agreed to help. When the hotel tried to use her cards, however, a technical issue was making it difficult. Once it was settled, the trainer began to ignore her calls. Delvey was still struggling.Â
Saved At The Last Minute
Instead of paying the crazy fees to the hotel, the trainer decided that it would be best to bring Delvey back to NYC. Delvey begged for first class, which she got. Back in NYC, she fled 11 Howard and moved into another hotel, where she was kicked out after 20 days after they realized the credit card was phony. She was now homeless, and that was the beginning of her struggles.
Scammed a Friend
Meanwhile, the videographer friend was ditched in Morocco and was forced to pay the expensive bill all on her own, or else she was going to be arrested. They had her pay $62,000 (more than she makes in a year) in order to not get arrested and to be able to leave. Delvey said she would pay her back. All she got back was $5,000.
Homeless
After being kicked out and wandering the streets, she demanded that she be let into her trainers home. “I don’t want to be alone,” she told her. “I might do something.” The trainer relented, gave her water, and let her sleep. The trainer claimed that this was the last time she help Delvey.Â
Learning the Truth
Delvey left in the morning to do who knows what. After she left, the trainer learned of the situation with their videographer friend. She had told her doorman to not let Delvey in. When Delvey came back later that day, he told her that the trainer was out for the day. He then let the trainer know that she’s lingering in the lobby, “Waiting for you to come back.” She waited for hours until she finally left at midnight.Â
Becoming Notorious
She was now in the process of making an entirely new name for herself. She couldn’t find another hotel to live in because they already knew her in the industry. Her friends didn’t want anything to do with her because they finally caught onto her ways. All of her scamming and lying was catching up with him. She even tried to hire a lawyer and then even asked if she could stay with him. Naturally, he said no.
An Intervention
Delvey tried talking to the trainer once more. The trainer agreed to meet with her at a restaurant to talk, but little did Delvey know was that the trainer was actually tricking her into an intervention. Once she realized what was happening, Delvey pushed out big crocodile tears and promised to pay everyone back once her foundation got up and running. They then broke it to her that that wasn’t happening, someone else bought the building she had her eyes on, and that it was over for her.Â
Getting Caught
According to them, the intervention was like talking to a wall. She refused to believe that someone else bought the building ADF was supposed to have because she claimed paid for it and even freaked out, called it fake news. Her friends, colleagues, and other people she scammed turned her in and contacted the New York District Attorney’s Office. It was over.
She Gets Arrested…
The trainer put her up in a hotel room for two nights only to keep her from fleeing. She restricted her room service and made them get rid of the bar. She was then arrested. Somehow, with her scamming magic, she was able to hire a lawyer, make bail, and flee to Malibu where she was caught again and brought back to New York. She quickly became a nationwide issue. She was charged with grand larceny, attempted grand larceny and theft of services.
No Plea Deal
Delvey tried to reach a plea deal but the judge rejected it. The Judge offered Delvey a 3 to 9-year sentence, which Delvey rejected and decided to go to court to fight. She was completely delusional Justice Diane Kiesel ran the trial and reported seeing no guilt or remorse in Delvey’s face.
Loving the Attention
She now resides in Rikers Island jail waiting for her trial. The maximum punishment is up to 15 years in prison since she didn’t take the original deal, which is very likely as her crimes are some of the worst in history. How did she live this fake life, and how did it take years for her to get caught?Â
The Truth
Now that she was caught, she was more than ready for the attention of the news publications where she spilled everything to anyone that asked. She started telling her actual life story, all starting when she was born in Russia in 1991. She was born in a working-class German family who had no idea of her life in the states. They were shocked at the horrifying lengths she went to get money…
Rikers Island
Delvey continues to make friends and use her sociopath charm in jail. “This place is not that bad at all actually. People seem to think it’s horrible, but I see it as like, this sociological experiment.” She’s in jail with anyone from con artists like herself to multiple-count murderers. She even met an identity thief, who she finds fascinating and even admitted to taking pointers from for future “endeavors.”
The Way She Did It
She ended up conning people, businesses, and banks out of a total of $275,000. She used fake documents, fake names, and even a fake financial advisor to get these loans and convince people to give her the money. She was constantly moving the money around and floated bad checks. She was constantly asking for money from people using her charm and manipulated them into giving it to her. She was able to move the money around and wire it to other banks, which is how she kept the loan money flowing and not getting it restricted. She had no guilt for ruining peoples lives.