if the nextflix series about Sorokin is accurate, she was able to do alot of what she did b/c of greed on the part of the bankers & various businesses she promised business to.

she convinced them that she's extremely wealthy, her money is just tied up in (insert some foreign exchange excuse) & that once it all clears, they stand to make a lot of money from doing business with her, but if they're gonna be sticklers about it now, she'll just take her business elsewhere.

she was able to skate on that for a couple years stringing along hotels, caterers, nightclubs, bank executives, etc before it all fell apart.