Anna Sorokin, the con artist who was jailed in 2019 for scamming New York socialites and banks, is planning to join the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market.
In a recent interview, Sorokin announced that she plans to introduce a new line of NFTs with extra privileges like direct access to her famous self, and personal items.
Socialite and the NFT world
The Reinventing Anna website, which advertises the initiative and operates under patronage of Sorokin expands further on her plans: “I consider this first drop as an opportunity to take control of a story that has been largely out of my hands until now.”
Currently, in detention since overstaying her visa, Sorokin pretended to be a German heiress inheriting $60 million between 2013 and 2017. The story acquired global awareness after Netflix has released quite a captivating series on Anna and all her endeavors that led her to a long lasting court trial and fraud accusations.
Is there more to these NFTs?
Using her own images, Anna created ten NFTs that look like credit cards. Johnny Ryan’s first drop portrays an impoverished woman behind bars telling a visitor, “You look impoverished.”
Playing off of Inventing Anna, a fictionalized Netflix miniseries about Sorokin’s intricate schemes to steal money while flitting between high-end hotels, Sorokin’s new project is called “Inventing Anna.”
Despite being convicted of grand larceny in 2019 and sentenced to four to twelve years in prison, the “Soho Grifter” escaped before being captured by federal authorities. Although the title implies otherwise, Sorokin’s Reinventing Anna is a response to her criminal past.
Anna Delvey’s remarks
In an interview with NBC, Sorokin said she would like the chance to show that she is more than just a fraudster.
According to a press release, Sorokin has promoted her artwork in various ways while in prison, including a smuggled watercolour paper on which she drew with pens and pencils confiscated from the prison.
One of her paintings, which costs $10,000, appeared in a collective exhibit titled Free Anna Delvey last April, where she collaborated with other artists.
In a statement, the gallery co-curator Julia Morrison said she had not been paid for the $8,000 deposit she put down, and that Sorokin had blocked her phone number.
The end
Sorokin is one of a long list of stars who have taken advantage of the NFT craze, including Grimes and Paris Hilton. But unfortunately, as NFTs become more popular, fraudsters will probably take advantage of the market’s popularity.
At least four lawsuits were filed by collectors whose digital assets were stolen on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace. Following complaints by artists such as Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst that their works is minted without their consent, the business delisted 1,138 NFTs.
