How did Sarma Melngailis meet Anthony Strangis?
As it turns out, Alec Baldwin—who almost dated Melngailis himself—played a crucial role in Melngailis meeting Strangis. The 30 Rockstar and then-girlfriend (now wife) Hilariahad several Twitter exchanges with Strangis, who went by Shane Fox at that time. The witty exchanges caught Melngailis’ attention, and she and Strangis began exchanging messages via the app, then took their online relationship to the next level through Words With Friends. According to Vanity Fair, Melngailis sent Strangis some online affection after he “guessed” that she named her rescue pitbull Leon after the Luc Besson film Léon: The Professional. The outlet points out that it may not necessarily have just been a lucky guess—Melngailis revealed the name’s inspiration on her “easily searchable blog” a year prior to their exchange. Strangis’ attorney denied the claims of their online beginnings to Vanity Fair.
When did Sarma and Anthony meet in real life?
Vanity Fair reports that Melngailis first met Strangis in person in New York City in November 2011. In Bad Vegan, Melngailis admitted that Strangis wasn’t as fit nor toned as he’d appeared in pictures online, but that she dismissed her concerns as being shallow. They quickly became romantically involved; Vanity Fair reported that by January 2012 the pair were physically intimate without protection and Melngailis terminated an accidental pregnancy without Strangis’ knowledge. Strangis’ attorney denied the claims.
When did Anthony from Bad Vegan start lying to Sarma Melngailis?
Insiders told Vanity Fair that Strangis got a relatively early start on his alleged brainwashing of Melngailis. He allegedly promised her enough cash to pay off a slew of her debt, including a $500,000 mortgage for her ex Matthew Kenney and a $1 million loan from Pure Food and Wine investor Jeffrey Chodorow; by April 2012 Strangis hadn’t given her a dime. He had, however, sworn that he could make Melngailis and her pitbull Leon immortal—and told her he had a secretive job doing “black ops” for the government and a feud with his allegedly evil, tech-savvy brother that he likened to the struggle for power between Marvel characters Thor and Loki. All Melngailis needed to do was pass a series of “cosmic endurance tests,” most of which strangely involved transferring huge sums of money to Strangis. She recalled to Vanity Fair, “He convinced me I’d be empowered in ways I couldn’t imagine. I would have access to unlimited resources so that I could grow my brand all over the world, make the documentary I always wanted to make—the one that would finally change people’s ways and help eradicate factory farming. Basically, I could do all the world-changing things I’d been quietly dreaming about. I could help whoever I want, and stay young forever doing it.” Strangis denied the allegations through his lawyer.
Did Sarma and Anthony break up?
Vanity Fair reported that Melngailis and Strangis split briefly near April 2012 when he failed to deliver on the cash he promised. Insiders claimed that she informed him of her terminated pregnancy at that time and ceased responding to any messages from him. The breakup didn’t take, however, and they were quickly back together before the year’s end.
When did Sarma Melngailis get married?
Melngailis and Strangis married in secret on Dec. 5, 2012, and Melngailis alleged in Bad Vegan that this was a result of Strangis’ coercive control over her—and that he told her that if they got married, it would be easier for her to transfer money to him. She told Vanity Fair, “He told me if I was his wife I’d be more protected. It was vague.” Melngailis alleged that throughout their relationship and marriage that Strangis insisted she needed to pass his “tests,” which ranged from fraudulent money transfers to sex acts to tolerating his obesity and junk food habits (which were in stark contrast to her “good” veganism) to keep them safe and grant her and Leon immortality. She told Vanity Fair after the release of Bad Vegan, “The impression in the doc is I intentionally married Anthony so he could transfer me money. That is completely not the case. At some point, Anthony did some of his mindf**kery and got me to marry him.” Strangis’ attorney denied her claims.
When did Sarma Melngailis and Anthony Strangis start stealing from Pure Food and Wine?
Sources told Vanity Fair that Strangis became a fixture at Pure Food and Wine around early 2013, but there wasn’t much evidence of the couple’s wrongdoing for about a year from that point.An investigation found that Melngailis and Strangis first started making fraudulent fund transfers from the restaurant’s business accounts to her and Strangis’ personal accounts around January 2014. By January 2015, the couple had blown $1.2 million of Pure Food and Wine’s cash at casinos in Connecticut, in addition to spending $80,000 on designer watches, $70,000 in hotels in New York City (where they lived!) and Europe; and another $10,000 in Uber rides. The high-roller lifestyle caught up with them quickly, but it hurt Melngailis’ Pure Food and Wine workers first: In 2014, owed her employees a massive five months’ worth of paychecks to the tune of $40,000. With legal fees added to unpaid wages, the debt to employees alone totaled about $63,000.
Is Pure Food and Wine still open?
In winter 2015, Pure Food and Wine workers picketed because of their missed checks, and the eatery closed up shop for good in July 2015. This was a direct result of Strangis and Melngailis’ fraud. They couldn’t pay their workers to be there and they were busy jet-setting around the world gambling the restaurant’s money, with workers revealing in Bad Vegan that from 2014 on Melngailis was rarely present at the restaurant at all.
When did Sarma Melngailis and Anthony Strangis get caught?
Melngailis and Strangis’ long-running fraud came to an end in May 2016, when Strangis ordered a Domino’s pizza with a side order of chicken wings to a Tennessee hotel room. Cops arrested the couple, who quickly turned on one another in court. In March 2017, the New York Post reported that Strangis took a deal to plead guilty of four counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree. He was sentenced to a year behind bars and five years of probation; Strangis was released from Rikers Island in May 2017. The same month of Strangis’ release, Melngailis took a deal of her own, pleading guilty to grand larceny, criminal tax fraud and a scheme to defraud; she was sentenced to five years’ probation and a split six-month jail sentence. She was released from Rikers Island in October 2017.
Where do Sarma and Anthony stand now?
Melngailis filed for divorce from Strangis in May 2018, and she has made it clear she has no interest in ever seeing him again; she said that Bad Vegan may have given audiences the wrong idea about their relationship. “It makes it seem like I’m in contact with him and that we’re on good terms, which is absurd,” she fumed to Vanity Fair, noting that she hasn’t seen him since they were arrested in Tennessee and transferred to Rikers Island. “I don’t expect to be in contact with him ever again. The idea of actually seeing him is terrifying. I still get a jolt of panic now and then when I see a big guy with the same sort of wide build from afar and worry for a second it’s him,” she said. “I still sometimes have nightmares about him.” Next, find out how much of Hulu’s The Dropout, which follows another blond female scammer with an allegedly shady lover, is based on true events.
