NEW YORK: The US immigration department has released fake German heiress Anna Sorokin, her lawyer confirmed Friday.

The 31-year-old fraudster, whose adventures led to the production of the successful Netflix series "Inventing Anna", had been detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement since March 2021.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention came after she spent more than three years behind bars for defrauding banks, hotels and friends into spending on her lavish lifestyle.

Immigration authorities said Sorokin had spent longer than her visa allowed and should be returned to Germany.

Earlier last week, a US immigration judge approved her transfer from detention to home custody as she tries to avoid deportation.

The judge asked Sorokin to pay a $10,000 bond and provide a residential address where she resides while her immigration case is being considered, while refraining from publishing any post on social media.

Her immigration attorney, John Sandwig, confirmed to "PA Media" that the process of her release had begun and that she was being transferred from the Orange County Jail in upstate New York to Midtown Manhattan.

"She will be released," Sandwig added. "She is still in the final stage of the process. She has been released from the prison where she was being held."

(dpa)