One of these days, I’m going to learn. I’m going to learn that saying, “That’s it, I’ve heard/seen it all now,” only invites me to have to eat those words. So, I won’t use that statement when telling you about this latest headscratcher. I’d like to, though. Does the name Anna Delvey ring a bell? It should because the Netflix show, “Inventing Anna” captivated America during the pandemic.
Anna’s real name is Anna Sorokin. She posed as a wealthy heiress to the one percenters of Manhattan between 2013 and 2017. For her fraudulent efforts, Sorokin was convicted in a New York state court of attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services, and was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison. After serving two years, she was remanded into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation to Germany. That’s where things get murky because apparently not only was she NOT deported; the one percenter crowd wants to re-engage!
I hope your sitting for this. Anna Delvey has been invited by Harvard to speak to one of their MBA classes. Yes, Harvard feels the best teacher for their brightest graduate business students is a convicted purveyor of fraud. Wait, it gets better. Across the pond, another bastion of elite higher education, Oxford has also inquired about having Delvey speak to some of their students real soon. WTH?! Am I the only one questioning the message being sent here? “Kids, we feel the best thing for you to learn is how to perpetrate fraud on unsuspecting suckers-er, I mean citizens.”