Spodek added that Sorokin "was ambitious, she was persistent and she was determined to make her business a reality," referring to a private arts club she proposed building and for which she sought a $US22 million loan. She led an unorthodox — and at times unethical— lifestyle, he added, but Sorokin was "enabled every step of the way by a system that favours people with money."
Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw said Sorokin told "lie after lie" to prolong a life of luxury she couldn't afford, providing forged financial records and identifications to banks. She lived out of ritzy hotels on an overdrawn account, dined at the finest restaurants and even hired a personal trainer who charged $US300 a session, McCaw said.
Sorokin not only assumed a different identity for herself but created a team of "imaginary" assistants, McCaw said, a ruse that lent credence to her efforts to expand her credit. There was, for instance, an accountant who didn't exist whom Sorokin blamed for delays in wire transfers. "All of the defendant's wire transfers are merely a figment of her imagination," McCaw said. "These are not white lies. These are lies that help you understand that the defendant, in fact, had criminal intent in this case."
McCaw said Sorokin once burned through $US40,000 over a period of just eight days. During one stay at a W Hotel, McCaw said, Sorokin "barricaded herself" in her room and would not even allow staff to check the minibar, even as she insisted they refill it."That's an awful lot of M&Ms," McCaw said. "She knew she couldn't pay for it."