So, you’ve finished Inventing Anna. Now what?
The highly anticipated Netflix drama, based on Jessica Pressler’s addictive article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People”, has shed new light on one of this century’s biggest swindlers, and the “victims” she defrauded.
While the rise and subsequent fall of the ‘fake heiress’ has been well documented—you can read all about the modern-day Robin Hood who ripped everyone off here—one of the most pressing questions to come from the series is ‘what happened to Anna Delvey?’
From a ‘wannabe socialite’ to a convicted fraudster, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about where Anna ended up after her scheme unraveled below.
Where Is Anna Delvey Now?
Delvey was indicted in 2017 on seven counts including attempt to commit grand larceny in the first, second and third degree and theft of services.
In April 2019, Delvey was convicted of attempted grand larceny, two counts of grand larceny in the second degree, grand larceny in the third degree and theft of services. She was sentenced to four to 12 years imprisonment.
Delvey was incarcerated in Rikers Island during the trial, before being transferred to Albion Correctional Facility in upstate New York where she stayed the remainder of her sentence.
In February 2021, Delvey was released from incarceration, having served only two years in prison.
Upon her release, Delvey returned to New York and resumed an active social media account, indulging in a lavish lifestyle giving interviews with press outlets.
A month later, in March 2021, Delvey was arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for overstaying her visa.
During a bond hearing in April 2021, an immigration judge denied bond citing Delvey “failed to demonstrate that she is not a danger to a community”.
In June 2021 an immigration judge ordered her removal from the United States back to Germany.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement decided that my early merit release from prison means nothing to them and, despite being perfectly self-sufficient when left to my own (legal) devices, I, in fact, present ‘a continuous danger to the community’”, Delvey penned in an open letter in INSIDER in February 2022.
“My visa overstay was unintentional and largely out of my control. I served my prison sentence, but I’m appealing my criminal conviction to clear my name”, Anna wrote. “I did not break a single one of New York state’s or ICE’s parole rules.”
Delvey currently remains in custody and is awaiting deportation.
In her personal essay, Delvey shared that she has no plans of watching Inventing Anna.
“Even if I were to pull some strings and make it happen, nothing about seeing a fictionalized version of myself in this criminal-insane-asylum setting sounds appealing to me,” Delvy revealed.
On February 11, Delvey sat down with Cosmopolitan to watch the series (from prison, nonetheless). “It’s weird to watch your own life owned by somebody else,” Delvey revealed to the publication.
Netflix bought the rights to Anna’s story for $320,000. In her letter with INSIDER, Delvey explained she “paid off the restitution from my criminal case in full to the banks I took money from” thanks to the Netflix payment.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Delvey explained her situation is “comedy of mistakes at best, deliberate negligence/sabotage at worst.”
Inventing Anna
Julia Garner took on the daunting role of playing Anna Delvey in Netflix’s Inventing Anna. For our March 2022 cover interview, the actress told marie claire Australia about the “intimidating” experience of visiting Delvey in prison—and how she approached that controversial accent.
