From being the vegan queen of New York City to getting arrested in Dominos while ordering a pizza on side of chicken nuggets, Sarma Melngailis had quite a turn in her life. Netflix is all ready to show this story in a documentary style eith Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. The show develops around Melngailis, who is the founder of New York’s Pure Food and Wine, a luxurious restaurant at the heart of New York. Sarma Melngailis took all the money from her restaurant and ran away with her husband, Anthony Strangis, and her dog.

At the end of the series, Sarma openly explains how she was manipulated by her husband. Anthony convinced her to hand over millions of dollars and even control of her beloved businesses. He even convinced her that he has the power to make Sarma and her dog immortal.

Now, let’s inspect and find out the true story of Sarma Melngailis aka the vegan queen.

Sarma Melngailis’s early life

Sarma Melngailis shared a close bond with Alec Baldwin, but nothing came out of it. Sarma has an instant connection with him, but they never dated. In a conversation with Vanity Fair, Alec Baldwin said, “She wasn’t someone who dated a lot of people. She worked at the restaurant, did the books, went home, and passed out with her dog.”

Later, Melngailis started interacting with another man, named Shane Fox on Twitter. They soon became friends and finally grew a romantic relationship out of it. However, a few of Sarma’s colleagues and friends noticed howShane appeared dark, aloof, and talked little about himself.

Sarma Melngailis married life with Anthony Strangis

Eventually, it turns out Shane Fox’s real name is Anthony Strangis, who had been in jail for fraudulent activity, including impersonating a police officer. Despite all these hints, she didn’t care about his past and chose to brush it off. Meanwhile, Anthony Strangis continued draining more money from her.

After they get married in 2012, Sarma’s downfall started. She fell behind on repayments for the restaurant and handed over all her private information and password to Strangis. As his control over her grew, he would often yell at her and make veiled threats via phone calls. At some point, Sarma realized she couldn’t get out of the relationship. That’s when Anthony claimed he can make her and the dog immortal.

Soon, the duo ran away with millions of dollars from the restaurant’s account and stayed in a motel for 40 days before their arrest.

The authorities charged 24 counts of crime, including 11 counts of grand larceny, eight counts of criminal tax fraud of varying degrees, three counts of scheming to defraud investors, violation of labor law, and other financial crimes on Sarma Melngailis and Anthony Strangis.

You will see more about her relationship with Strangis on Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan.