Republished March 27, 2019 - 4:02 PM
Original Publication Date March 27, 2019 - 10:26 AM
NEW YORK - The Latest on the fraud trial of a woman accused of passing herself off as a wealthy heiress (all times local):
1:15 p.m.
The lawyer for a woman who posed as a German heiress to live the New York City high life says his client never intended to commit a crime.
Todd Spodek told jurors at Anna Sorokin's trial Wednesday that the 28-year-old took advantage of a system that's "easily seduced by glamour and glitz."
Sorokin is charged with swindling various people and businesses out of $275,000 in a 10-month odyssey that included jetting to Marrakesh before landing in a jail cell.
Sorokin is accused of living in luxury hotels she couldn't afford, promising a friend a free trip and then sticking her with the bill, and peddling bogus bank statements in a quest for a $22 million loan.
Spodek said Sorokin "had to fake it until she could make it." He argued her actions were civil matters, not criminal.
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1:10 a.m.
Anna Sorokin travelled in celebrity circles and tossed $100 tips — all the more reason to believe she was the German heiress she said she was.
Prosecutors say the jet-set lifestyle and pricy threads masked a fraudster who bilked friends, banks and hotels for a taste of the high life.
The 28-year-old Sorokin is scheduled to stand trial Wednesday on charges she swindled $275,000 in a 10-month odyssey that saw her jetting to Marrakesh before landing in a New York City jail cell.
Sorokin is accused of living in luxury hotels she couldn't afford, promising a friend a free trip and then sticking her with the bill, and peddling bogus bank statements in a quest for a $22 million loan.
Sorokin's lawyer says she's "presumed innocent and never intended to commit a larceny."
News from © The Associated Press, 2019