Saturday, 11 May 2019
Thursday, 9 May 2019
Anna Sorokin: fake German heiress sentenced to up to 12 years in prison
Anna Sorokin: fake German heiress sentenced to up to 12
years in prison
Sorokin, 28, guilty of deception worth more than $200,000
Judge: ‘She was blinded by the glitter and glamour of New
York’
Edward Helmore in New York and agencies
Thu 9 May 2019 21.12 BST First published on Thu 9 May 2019
20.20 BST
A judge has sentenced the fake German heiress Anna Sorokin
to four to 12 years in prison for defrauding hotels, restaurants, a private jet
operator and banks out of more than $200,000.
Judge Diane Kiesel said she was “stunned by the depth of the
defendant’s deception, her labyrinthine lies that kept her con afloat” at the
sentencing on Thursday afternoon in Manhattan state court. As she handed down
sentence, Kiesel reportedly made a reference to Bruce Springsteen’s song
Blinded by the Light.
“She was blinded by the glitter and glamour of New York
City,” the judge said, according to BuzzFeed News.
Sorokin, a would-be art collector, planned to open a
members-only arts club but became known as the “Soho grifter” after her
deception upon New York’s glitzy social scene came to light. Sorokin, 28, was
found guilty last month of grand larceny and theft of services.
During the trial she was admonished for throwing tantrums
when she couldn’t get her stylist-curated outfits, and drew unflattering
sketches of the lead prosecutor during testimony.
But at sentencing she was humbled. Wearing a long-sleeved
black dress, she told the judge: “I apologize for the mistakes I made.”
Sorokin’s story became a media sensation, and she received
lengthy profiles in magazines and reams of tabloid coverage. A TV series about
her life was also planned.
Today in Focus
Anna Sorokin: the fake heiress who fooled everyone – podcast
At the trial, prosecutors said she overdrew a bank account
and forged financial records to further the ruse that she perpetrated under the
name Anna Delvey. The jury agreed she had fraudulently maneuvered herself into
“the best position to take money” from a social milieu of wealthy collectors,
dealers and auctioneers.
Prosecutors said Sorokin’s ambition was to “live the fantasy
of an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means”. But her lawyers argued that
Sorokin was hardly unique in understanding that superficial glamour was key to
acceptance in the circles she aspired to join.
“Fake it until you
make it,” explained her lawyer, Todd Spodek. He conceded that his client’s
practice was unethical but, he claimed, not illegal because she planned to pay
everyone back. “Any millennial will tell you,” he said, “it is not uncommon to
have delusions of grandeur.”
The jury rejected some of the charges against her, including
an alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain a $22m (£17m) loan, and an accusation
that she had swindled $60,000 from a friend who had paid for a lavish trip to
Morocco.
Prosecutors told the court Sorokin now has barely “a cent to
her name”.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has said it will
seek to deport Sorokin, who was born in Russia, to Germany following her
release from state custody. Ice said Sorokin overstayed her 2017 visa.
Tuesday, 7 May 2019
Remembering, "Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Rule Britain and Great White Silence" / VIDEO:Posh and Posher. CLASS POLITICS IN THE UK. Documentary. Prejudice. Disc...
TV review: Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Rule
Britain and Great White Silence
Why the toffs are back in charge is a big question; it's a
shame Andrew Neil didn't have the answers
John Crace
@JohnJCrace
Thu 27 Jan 2011 07.59 GMT First published on Thu 27 Jan 2011
07.59 GMT
Posh and Posher Andrew Neil tv review john crace
What happened to
social mobility?
We're continually being told "we're all in this
together" but politicians are notoriously edgy when their own social
mobility comes under scrutiny. So with three-quarters of the coalition cabinet
now millionaires and most of the top jobs in all parties sewn up by public
school or Oxbridge graduates, Andrew Neil's Posh and Posher: Why Public School
Boys Rule Britain (BBC2) was a timely examination of why, after a succession of
state school-educated prime ministers from Harold Wilson to John Major, we have
returned to a 1950s political elite.
In many ways the question was more interesting than the
answers, which followed the predictable line of a cultivated sense of
entitlement, social networking and a financial cushion that enables the
ambitious to work for next to nothing as special parliamentary advisers in the
hope of getting parachuted into a safe seat at a later date.
It didn't help that Neil kept moving his own goalposts so it
was hard to follow the argument. He started by talking about public schools in
general, then rapidly narrowed it to just two – Westminster and Eton – without
worrying why those from other public schools miss out. He then shifted to
Oxbridge and while there is an overlap and a similarly pernicious sense of
closed shop, it's not the same thing.
He was on much stronger ground when he got on to education
in general. Like many high achievers of his generation, Neil was a grammar
school boy and he made a straight correlation between the arrival of
comprehensive secondary education and the rebirth of the English political
elite. Despite this he couldn't bring himself to call for the reinstatement of
a two-tier system, as the price of consigning 80% of teenagers to the limited
expectations of a secondary modern was not one worth paying. So we were rather
back where we started.
Most telling were the absences. The message must have gone
out that the topic was toxic and no one important should talk to Neil under any
circumstances. So he was left talking to past-their-sell-by-date Tory grandees,
the sidelined David Davis, and Peter Mandelson, who will talk to any camera
that's pointed at him. The highlight was the Tory backbencher and wealthy
Somerset landowner Jacob Rees-Mogg. Here was a clown who could win the next
election for Labour singlehandedly with his plummy declaration: "I am a
man of the people. Vox populi, vox dei." Alan Johnson's cameo appearance
as the lone trade unionist took on a ghost-like poignancy after his resignation
last week sounded another death knell for social equality.
At least some ghosts came back to life. Last year Herbert
Ponting's film of Scott's last trip to the Antarctic got an HD tart-up and in
Great White Silence (Discovery) we were treated to magical images of both ice
and men. It was like going through a wormhole to be back among an expedition
whose collective memory has long since been as frozen as their bodies. All that
spoiled it was James Cracknell. The former rower may have been to the
Antarctic, but he is no polar historian and his ability to misinterpret almost
everything he saw during his film commentary was breathtaking.
As the ponies and the motor sleds were unloaded from the
Terra Nova, Cracknell hailed Scott's modern approach to polar transport. He
didn't mention that the ponies were spectacularly useless as they sank into the
snow, nor that the sleds continually broke down in the cold and were abandoned.
He accepted Scott's decision to abandon the dogs on the Beardmore Glacier,
saying they couldn't pull uphill, and he made a virtue of manhauling, while
failing to acknowledge that Amundsen's dogs pulled the Norwegians all the way
up on to the Antarctic ice-cap far more quickly.
He praised Scott's decision to leave the final make-up of
the polar party to the last minute, when most recognise that his
spur-of-the-moment decision to take an extra man to the pole when he only had
provisions for four was a fatal error. He hailed Scott's devotion to science in
collecting geological samples, when Scott's own diaries reveal this was mainly
a piece of face-saving after coming second, and the extra weight may have
contributed to his team's death.
It was a wonderful piece of rehabilitation for Scott, but as
history it was desperately flawed. You'd have been better off watching the film
as Ponting originally intended. With no sound.
Sunday, 5 May 2019
'Intimate Audrey' exhibition opens in Brussels / VIDEO:The intimate life of Audrey Hepburn goes on display in Brussels
'Intimate Audrey': Hepburn exhibition opens in Brussels
Sean Hepburn Ferrer, poses in front of a picture of his
mother Audrey Hepburn and an Oscar statuette awarded posthumously for her
humanitarian work at the exhibition "Intimate Audrey" in Brussels,
Belgium, May 2, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - From personal pictures and dresses to
film props and awards, an exhibition offering an intimate look at the life of
late actress Audrey Hepburn has opened in Brussels, marking the 90th
anniversary of the Hollywood star’s birth in the Belgian city.
Put together by her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer, “Intimate
Audrey” features hundreds of private and professional photos - originals and
reprints - as well as some movie memorabilia, such as the scooter used in the
1953 classic “Roman Holiday” for which Hepburn won a best actress Oscar.
Hepburn Ferrer, whose father was U.S. actor Mel Ferrer, said
he wanted to offer a more personal perspective of the life of the British
actress, who dedicated her later years to charity work and became a UNICEF
goodwill ambassador.
“She lived a humble life, a simple life, and maybe in there
lies the key to why she is still so beloved today,” he told Reuters.
Hepburn was born in 1929 in the Brussels area of Ixelles to
a Dutch mother and British father. She later moved to London to pursue ballet
training and eventually turned to acting, taking to the stage in New York in
1951 for Broadway play “Gigi”.
She starred in a string of films in the 1950s and 1960s,
including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Charade” and “My Fair Lady”. Hepburn died
in 1993 aged 63.
On display are also Hepburn’s fashion drawings and
humanitarian writings. Hepburn Ferrer said one the key features of the
exhibition was a replica cherry blossom tree, a tribute to the childhood home
in Switzerland his parents bought in 1963 and remained Hepburn’s residence
until her death.
“It is an unusual exhibition because it has been completely
devoid of the Hollywood aspect of her career so it’s the woman who is coming
home, naked of the legend, of the icon,” he said.
“Intimate Audrey” runs Espace Vanderborght until Aug. 25.
Reporting By Clement Rossignol; Writing by Marie-Louise
Gumuchian, Editing by William Maclean
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
AUDREY HEPBURN BACK IN BRUSSELS
01 May 2019 - 04 August 2019
Brussels
In an interview on Belgian television in 1959, Audrey
Hepburn said: "I was born here in Brussels, and I am very happy about
that". It is precisely because the actress (1929-1993) was born in the
Brussels municipality of Ixelles, exactly ninety years ago, that her son, Sean
Ferrer, has decided to devote a biographical exhibition to the memory of his
mother in the Vanderborght building, in the centre of the capital.
The exhibition "Intimate Audrey" (1 May to 4
August) is primarily based on photos of the Hollywood star, some of which will
be on public display for the first time. Personal items including clothing and
accessories, as well as videos portraying significant events in her life, will
also feature in the exhibition. The emphasis is more on the woman as a person
rather than the actress, her marriage to the actor Melchor Gaston Ferrer and
her humanitarian work.
The proceeds from admissions will be donated to
EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe and to the Brugmann and Bordet hospitals in
Brussels. For practical information, visit: https://agenda.brussels//en/event/471314/exposition-intimate-audrey.html.
Friday, 3 May 2019
Jeeves and his wife in Delft / VIDEO: St. Matthew Passion - I, Bach, Bachkoor Holland, Concertgebouw Chamber O...
Me and my wife. My wife and I. We went to the sublime St Matthew Passion in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, for the traditional Dutch Easter Good Friday celebration
Greetings
JEEVES
 |
The St
Matthew Passion (German: Matthäus-Passion), BWV 244, is a Passion, a sacred
oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir
and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets chapters 26 and 27 of
the Gospel of Matthew (in the Luther Bible) to music, with interspersed
chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of
classical sacred music. The original Latin title Passio Domini nostri J.C.
secundum Evangelistam Matthæum translates to "The Passion of our Lord
J[esus] C[hrist] according to the Evangelist Matthew".
|
Thursday, 2 May 2019
Anna Sorokin found guilty / VIDEO:How NYC’s Richest Socialites Were Scammed By Anna Delvey, Allegedly | Va...
Anna Sorokin: fake heiress found guilty of theft and grand
larceny in Manhattan
Woman who masqueraded as Anna Delvey swindled tens of
thousands of dollars from banks, hotels and friends
Associated Press
Fri 26 Apr 2019 07.26 BST First published on Fri 26 Apr 2019
01.40 BST
A New York jury on Thursday convicted an extravagant
socialite who bankrolled an implausibly lavish lifestyle with tens of thousands
of dollars she swindled from banks, hotels and friends who believed she was a
wealthy German heiress.
The Manhattan jury found Anna Sorokin guilty of four counts
of theft of services, three counts of grand larceny and one count of attempted
grand larceny following a month-long trial that attracted international
attention. She was acquitted of one count of grand larceny and one count of
attempted grand larceny. She is to be sentenced 9 May.
Sorokin also faces deportation to Germany because
authorities say she overstayed her visa.
Using the name Anna Delvey, Sorokin deceived friends and
financial institutions into believing she had a fortune of about $67m (60m
euros) overseas that would cover her high-end clothing, luxury hotel stays and
trans-Atlantic travel.
She claimed her father was diplomat or an oil baron and went
to extraordinary lengths to have others pay her way. Prosecutors said she
promised one friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco but then stuck her
with the $62,000 bill.
She also forged financial records in an application for a
$22m loan to fund a private arts club she wanted to build, complete with
exhibitions, installations and pop-up shops, prosecutors said. She was denied
the loan but persuaded one bank to lend her $100,000 she failed to repay.
Her defense attorney, Todd Spodek, insisted Sorokin planned
to settle her six-figure debts and was merely “buying time”.
Anna Sorokin proves we’re all soft touches for glamour
scammers
Rebecca Nicholson
There’s a reason why the story of the sham heiress is
fascinating – in our phoney world any one of us could be conned
Sat 27 Apr 2019 15.00 BST
Netflix and HBO are both working on the story of the
convicted conwoman Anna Sorokin, aka ‘Anna Delvey’
On Thursday, in a New York courtroom, Anna Sorokin was
convicted of a litany of charges: four counts of theft of services, three of
grand larceny and one of attempted grand larceny. The story of her brief,
bright career as a scammer, when she floated around the city claiming to be an
heiress called Anna Delvey, on a cycle of borrowing and defaulting, has proved
so gripping that it is already being turned into competing projects. A New York
magazine report from 2018 was optioned for Netflix; a Vanity Fair story,
written by the photojournalist who had been swindled by Sorokin (and who
testified against her), is being adapted for HBO by Lena Dunham.
Sorokin’s convictions, for which she faces a prison sentence
and deportation to Germany, make her the latest in a line of high-level fakers
elevated to celebrity status by our fascination. It’s no wonder that Netflix
and HBO are involved in turning the saga into entertainment: from the Fyre
festival to Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced CEO of Theranos (not, in a week of
Avengers overload, to be confused with Thanos), tales of people promising
something they could never, or never intended to, deliver are everywhere.
It is surely just a matter of time before Netflix creates a
“glamour scammers” category, on a par with “understated TV dramas featuring a
strong female lead” or, as I found when scrolling last week, “sparking joy”, which
perhaps reveals more about my algorithms than I should be comfortable with.
I used to think that the appeal of such stories was down to
the unedifying pleasure of schadenfreude and the firm belief that we, the
people watching, would never be conned like that. The Fyre festival fiasco
thrived on this sentiment: people saw others paying for the pursuit of
impossible glamour, only to find that it was actually impossible.
Now I think the appeal might lie somewhere else. We are all
in a position where being tricked on some level is not unusual and seeing these
grand scams unfold only highlights how much of the world is run on persuasion
and image of no substance. Even Sorokin’s legal strategy emphasised the fakery
around us. “Everyone’s life was perfectly curated for social media. People were
fake. People were phoney. And money was made on hype alone,” her lawyer told
the jury.
It’s little comfort to those damaged by Sorokin’s actions.
But they expose a vulnerability in all of us and that might be what makes such
stories so desperately, hopelessly thrilling.
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