Anna Sorokin travelled in celebrity circles and tossed $US100 ($141) tips — all the more reason to believe she was the German heiress she said she was.

Key points: The Russian-born trucker's daughter became a New York socialite while allegedly pretending to be a wealthy heiress

The Russian-born trucker's daughter became a New York socialite while allegedly pretending to be a wealthy heiress She allegedly swindled various people and businesses out of $US275,000

She allegedly swindled various people and businesses out of $US275,000 Two TV shows about the saga are in development

She arrived in the world of champagne wishes and caviar dreams in 2016 with a new name (Anna Delvey) and a high-end wardrobe to match.

But behind the jet-set lifestyle and pricey threads, prosecutors have said, was a fraudster who bilked friends, banks and hotels for a taste of the high life.

Ms Sorokin, 28, lived in luxury New York City hotel rooms she could not afford, promised a friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $US62,000 bill, and peddled bogus bank statements in a quest for a $US22 million loan, the Manhattan District Attorney's office has alleged.

Who is Anna Delvey?

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On Wednesday (local time), the one-time darling of the Big Apple social scene went on trial on charges alleging she swindled various people and businesses out of $US275,000 in a 10-month odyssey that saw her jetting to the Midwest and Marrakesh before landing in a cell at Rikers Island.

"Her overall scheme has been to claim to be a wealthy German heiress with approximately $US60 million in funds being held abroad," prosecutor Catherine McCaw said after Ms Sorokin's October 2017 arrest.

"She's born in Russia and has not a cent to her name as far as we can determine."

Ms Sorokin's attorney said she never intended to commit a crime.

Lawyer Todd Spodek told jurors in an opening statement that Ms Sorokin was exploiting a system that was "easily seduced by glamour and glitz" after she saw how the appearance of wealth opened doors.

"Anna had to fake it until she could make it," Mr Spodek said.

Ms Sorokin, jailed since her arrest, faces deportation to Germany regardless of the outcome of the trial because authorities say she overstayed her visa.

Anna Sorokin arrives at the New York State Supreme Court for her trial on grand larceny and services theft charges. ( AP: Richard Drew )

Her story, however, may stick around. Shonda Rhimes, the force behind TV series Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, is developing a show about Ms Sorokin for Netflix.

Lena Dunham, of Girls fame, is working on one for HBO.

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'It was a magic trick'

Ms Sorokin made a show of her spending to prove she belonged, but she gave varying accounts for the source of her wealth, according to people who knew her.

At different times, they said, she would claim her father was a diplomat, an oil baron or a solar panel millionaire.

In reality, her father told New York magazine, he is a former trucker who runs a heating-and-cooling business.

At first, people around Ms Sorokin did not see a red flag when she asked them to put cabs and plane fares on their credit cards — she sometimes said she had trouble moving her assets from Europe, they said — and they laughed it off as forgetfulness when they had to hound her to pay them back.

"It was a magic trick," Rachel Williams, the friend from the Morocco trip, wrote in Vanity Fair.

"I'm embarrassed to say that I was one of the props, and the audience, too.

"Anna's was a beautiful dream of New York, like one of those nights that never seems to end. And then the bill arrives."

ABC/AP