The story of Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” almost feels like an elaborate heist. The titular Anna Sorokin, claiming to be a wealthy heiress, makes her way through high society circles in New York. She began by rubbing shoulders with fashion icons and art collectors, gaining legitimacy before aiming higher. Claiming to create an exclusive art club in the heart of New York, she seeks multi-million dollar loans from some of the city’s biggest banks.
Background checks in the financial world are a little stricter than checking someone’s Instagram profile, which is how Anna apparently convinces many acquaintances of her supposed wealth. To convince the banks that she can afford the multi-million dollar loan, Anna brings in Peter Hennecke, who remains invisible but calmly reassures the bankers of Anna’s significant offshore wealth. If you’ve read “Inventing Anna” and wondered who the mysterious Peter Hennecke is, we have the truth!
Who is Peter Hennecke in Inventing Anna?
In the miniseries, Peter Hennecke is first introduced when Anna’s high-profile attorney, Alan Reed, calls to confirm her alleged wealth and assets (which she claims exceed $60 million). Peter’s calm, reassuring voice tells Alan that the required financial documents will be sent shortly. As the days and weeks pass, Peter, who is eerily reminiscent of Anna, continues to pretend that everything is fine, even though neither the documents nor Alan’s charges have come to light. When the US attorney questions Peter’s suspicious AOL email address, Anna eventually introduces Peter Hennecke as the head of her family office (which supposedly explains the unofficial email id).
After a while, Peter stops responding to the increasing demands for official documents proving Anna’s alleged wealth. The young scammer asks her business partners to stop trying to contact Peter, saying he is dead. Later, during Anna’s trial, it is revealed that she impersonated Peter using a fake email address and a burner phone. Peter Hennecke’s calm, reassuring voice is revealed to be the product of a $5 voice-changing app that Anna uses.
Is Peter Hennecke a real person?
“Inventing Anna” often blurs the line between fact and fiction, and sometimes the former is as shocking as the latter. According to the 2018 New York Magazine article by Jessica Pressler on which the series is inspired, Peter Hennecke’s “real” number was also discovered to belong to a “disappearing engraver’s phone from a supermarket”.
The article also describes how one of Anna’s bankers was also confused when he noticed Peter’s AOL email address, to which Anna gave a similar response – that Peter was the head of her family office. . When Marc Kremers, a London designer whom Anna had hired for branding work and who had still not received the £16,800 membership fee, saw that the emails to Peter were coming back, Anna explained that her financial adviser was deceased.
Incidentally, Anna would also have falsified another accountant under the name “Bettina Wagner”. During her trial, the prosecution revealed how Anna performed Google searches such as ‘sending fake emails that cannot be found’ and ‘non-existent email that won’t bounce’, apparently in an attempt to create personality by Bettina Wagner.
Finally, in case you were curious, Anna allegedly used an app called Hushed to make all those scam phone calls pretending to be her accountant. Just as the show shows, the app apparently costs around $5 a month.
Read more: Are Anna Sorokin and Neffatari Davis still friends?
