So, I have watched both Tinder Swindler and Inventing Anna, and concluded that the reason why both got away so easily is because (no surprise!) the society have somewhat “allowed” them to.
Truthfully, all of us at some point in our lives, do get attracted to people that flaunted a certain wealth, like the famous who’s who. We underestimate due to our perception of their, wealth and connection.
Willingly, we assumed that those with power and money, presented themselves well, got invited to high profile parties, rubbed shoulders with who’s who, definitely worth our trust.
Just look around us, our inner and outer circles, sadly some of us probably have been a victim or currently a "victim" to fake friends, opportunistic colleagues and bosses, fake lovers, power hungry politicians, false advertising etc.
Above photo: The infamous Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) during her trial in 2019.
Subconsciously, our action had somehow allowed them to continue hurting us (out of love and usually trust) until we realized that we have been taken for a ride. Yes. the society have taught us to not simply ‘trust’ people that we hardly know. But what about people that we already knew?
Above photo: Simon Levieve (real name Shimon Hayut from Israel) flaunting his private jet lifestyle.
So, who is Anna Sorokin and Shimon Hayut?
Based on Wikipedia, Simon Leviev born Shimon Hayut is an Israeli conman convicted of theft, forgery and fraud. According to The Times of Israel, between 2017 to 2019 he allegedly conned an estimated of $10 million from victims across Europe in a Ponzi scheme.
There were many write ups about him (you may Google more to find out), but he has since shared his side of story with Inside Edition, denying any wrong doing.
Video HERE.
And as for Anna Sorokin (Russian: Анна Сорокина; born 23 January 1991), she is a convicted con artist and fraudster. According to Wikipedia, between 2013 and 2017, Sorokin pretended to be a wealthy heiress under the name Anna Delvey.
In 2017, she was arrested after defrauding or intentionally deceiving financial institutions, banks, hotels, and acquaintances in the US for a total of $275,000. Sorokin was convicted in New York of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services in 2019. She served only 4 years from her original 12 years jailed term for good behaviour and was released in February 2019.
Sorokin wasted no time upon her release and is already making real money now through the famous Netflix series “Inventing Anna”. She is also currently in the talk about another docuseries with a production company behind ‘Keeping Up with The Kardashians’.
News HERE
Since her release, this is the most compelling interview of her by Australia’s 60 Minutes (see below video).
To those that might wonder who exactly this startup boyfriend of Anna, Chase. Perhaps THIS is the revelation to that? 😊
Their stories are shared to remind us of our vulnerabilities (and what can we do about it) and be constantly be on our toes to be mindful of our reaction and action when we encounter similar experience, of our own or others.
Sometimes things just happen to test us (and others) of our conscience to learn from perception and mistakes, and eventually tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
People like Hayut and Sorokin can always start all over again – and their fame (even for the wrong reasons) have catapulted them further – earning monies from interviews, exclusives, movies and even docuseries. Who cares about the “crimes” they do? Which makes me think that even politicians and the richest have done far worst crimes than these two but still, they are walking out there a free men and women.
Sad but true, money and fame can really buy you out of all wrong doings. And even sadder, take a look of who is taking up jail space all over the world? Most of them could hardly keep roofs over their heads or buy a month of grocery to feed their family.