Fake heiress turned Netflix star Anna Sorokin to be deported to Germany

Anna Sorokin, or Delvey, falsified records and defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrities into believing she had a fortune of US$67 million (NZ$95m). Photo / Instagram

She's the "fake heiress" who inspired Netflix's hit show Inventing Anna. And while you've been watching Shonda Rhimes' adaptation of her story, Anna Sorokin has been languishing in an upstate New York detention centre. But all that is reportedly about to change.

According to the New York Post, Sorokin - or Delvey, as she prefers, - has been released and is being deported to Germany after nearly a year in US custody.

She is reportedly set to board a flight to Frankfurt on Monday night US time (Tuesday morning NZST) and, according to a source of the Post, is said to be "furious" about the decision.

The 31-year-old, due to appear on a US comedy and advice podcast Call My Daddy this week, has allegedly filed an appeal to remain in the US after overstaying her visa, reports the Post.

Last month Sorokin was part of a trio of inmates who sued US federal immigration authorities over contracting Covid-19 while in custody.

Sorokin, who became known as the "Soho Grifter", was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison after a trial that drew international media attention. Photo / AP

After submitting a request for a follow-up vaccine, which wasn't responded to, Sorokin tested positive for the virus.

With her fellow inmates, she claims their constitutional rights as medically vulnerable people were violated when their requests for a booster went unanswered, alleges the Post.

Sorokin gained notoriety after passing herself off as a wealthy German heiress and serving more than three years behind bars for defrauding New York banks and hotels.

Prosecutors said Sorokin falsified records and defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrities into believing she had a fortune of US$67 million ($95m) overseas that could cover her high-end clothing and lavish hotel stays.

Among other lies, she claimed her father — a former trucker who runs a heating and cooling business — was a diplomat or an oil baron.

Her ruse included an application for a US$22m loan to fund a private arts club, complete with exhibitions, installations and pop-up shops, prosecutors said. She was denied that loan but persuaded one bank to lend her US$100,000 that she failed to repay.

In all, prosecutors accused her of stealing some US$275,000.

Sorokin, who became known as the "Soho Grifter", was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison after a trial that drew international media attention.

- Additional reporting, AP