Anthony Strangis is one of the biggest mysteries represented in Netflix’s Bad Vegan – the fans want to know what he’s doing and deep about his story.
People watch a lot of Netflix documentaries and most of the time, the documentaries are kinda boring; they don’t force them to know more. In this case, the mystery about Anthony Strangis has us hooked on the show, and that’s why you’re here – wanting to know more about him.
In this article, we will go through what Anthony was up to during his lifetime, how he affected his ex-wife Sarma Melngailis’ life, and what he’s up to these days.
Introduction
The show starts with a phone call between him and his ex-wife where Anthony talks in a disembodied voice warning Sarma of the consequences she could face if she didn’t shut her mouth. He warns her by saying, “I’m not a fuking joker…I’m not someone to be fuked with.”
As you can tell, Anthony isn’t afraid of using false language in front of her once-beloved ex-wife. As the documentary continued, Anthony was up to A LOT. After that, the story keeps developing as Sarma talks about what horrible things and money scams they were involved in.
This article goes BEYOND what’s shown in the documentary, we will include some exclusive interviews with Sarma Melngailis and how she would constantly feel threatened by the horrors that followed.
Who is Anthony Strangis?
Before we move on with the story, let us share some basic information about who this con artist is. Anthony Strangis was born in 1980 and is 42 years old. He was featured in Netflix’s Bad Vegan and is currently infamous for his horrendous acts such as gambling, cyber-bullying, and so on.
It is said that Strangis was involved in criminal activities from his high school years. Anthony’s father, ironically, was a policeman in the Brockton Police Department and served for 25 years.
Has Anthony Always Been Like This?
When this question was asked, we dug deep into the internet and some classified information to track his criminal record. Unsurprisingly, the record shows that he was involved in fraudulent activities even before meeting Melngailis.
He was charged with grand theft as he was impersonating a police officer and stealing an expensive sports car in the state of Florida.
Anthony and his Undying Addiction to Gambling
Anthony was also addicted to gambling since he was just three years old. WHAT???
How Anthony Strangis and Sarma Melngailis Met?
The first time they contacted was on Twitter, in 2011. Sarma was a successful chef as she owned a restaurant Pure Food and Wine – which she inaugurated in 2004. Apart from that, she possesses excellent cooking skills, and her cookbooks are a living witness.
Her restaurant was so popular and excellent that celebrities like Rooney Mara and Anne Hathaway would occasionally drop by. She would generate around $7 million worth of sales every year through her cuisine.
After they met in November 2011, their relationship got serious and they got married the next year, in 2012. As romantic as their relationship could be, things started to take a turn for the worst when Strangis asked Sarma to bring in new business partners who she didn’t know existed.
Anthony would pursue Sarma to partner up with an unknown organization which she denied. After that, he would ask Sarma for her credentials such as email, passwords, and personal bank details, and as his tough-guy personality, he got what he wanted; one way or another.
Long story short, Sarma gave him $1.2 million dollars and got herself involved in fraudulent activities.
Sarma and Anthony Getting Arrested
In July 2015, Sarma’s fancy restaurant shut down and they went on the run. No one knew where they stayed until Strangis got them arrested by ordering a Domino’s Pizza using his identity, in May 2016. According to a report, they were living in a Hotel in Tennessee for more than a month. As the couple got arrested, they were charged with a $400,000 tax fraud, a $40,000 in employee paychecks scam, and stealing almost a million dollars from investors.
The court would also find out that Anthony, using his wife’s credentials, transferred around $1.6 million dollars from her business to her personal account. Since he had access to her personal bank account, Strangis took out the money and lost it all in gambling.
Anthony Strangis and Sarma Melngailis Sentence
As the couple got arrested, their case went to the course which sentences Sarma to four months and Anthony, to one year in prison with five years of probation.
The court ordered Anthony to pay a $350,000 bond or go to jail; since he didn’t have the amount and had already served most of his time at the time of the court sentence, he decided to do his time.
Anthony Lying to Sarma About Some Demonic Powers
Another twist in the Bad Vegan saga takes place when a document is revealed to the world stating some disturbing facts about the couple, specifically, the husband. The unearthed document revealed that Anthony somehow convinced Sarma that he had access to some mystical forces that would make them both immortal.
Not only that, he mentioned that the powers would only work as long as they are married. This, with a series of other persuasions, caused Sarma to believe that he was actually on to something; Anthony, on the other hand, kept wiring himself her money and spent it all on gambling and luxury items.
When his lawyer was asked about this “alleged” manipulation, he denied manipulating his ex-wife in any way. We do know that it was only Sarma that was interviewed for the documentary, and not Anthony, but he allowed his lawyer to speak on his behalf.
What is Anthony Strangis Doing Now After Releasing from Prison?
Actually, there are mixed opinions about whether he is living a normal life, or still getting involved in criminal activities, as he always was. According to his lawyer, Sam Karliner, Anthony is doing fine, has a job, and feels bad about the people who were affected by his wrongdoings. His lawyers say that the past is behind him and he’s living a normal life now.
Anthony was released in May 2017 after completing his prison sentence. As he was still on five-year probation, the probation was sent to Massachusetts, where he would start living with his mother.
A Vanity Fair interviewer took another leap and went on to interview his sister, McKaila Coulter, to know about his whereabouts after his prison release. One would assume that Strangis changed but her sister had other things to say. According to the journalist, her sister said that Anthony borrowed money from her and she’s been trying to collect it since then.
She then revealed that he was either at home playing Call of Duty or just gambling. When she was asked to watch the documentary about his brother, at first, she refused but when she did watch it, she was angry that only the victims were shown; her family had also struggled which wasn’t shown in the series.
His sister then went on to explain that she was raised in the same tough conditions as him, but she didn’t become a “gambling con man.”
Coulter, his sister, said that from childhood, their mother would call them names, and she would call Anthony “Loki” because Loki is indeed a Tricker – a con man.
Did Anthony Stragnis Know There’s Going to be a Documentary on Him?
In November 2019, Sarma called Anthony and told him that there may be a documentary on him. She did not mention Bad Vegan, and neither was this called mentioned in the Netflix documentary.
When Sarma told him that she was aware of his old trick and tactics of only partially telling what he was up to, he answered that he was working as a consultant and is now a strategist, and made it clear that he doesn’t want to be part of Bad Vegan.
Sarma Melngailis Says Ending of Bad Vegan is Misleading
For those who don’t know, Sarma Melngailis has her own blog in which she often writes about herself. She says that the ending of Bad Vegan is “disturbingly misleading.”
She says that she is writing a book in which she will be providing real evidence with real pictures. The book will come out in 2023 but until then, she can’t not speak. She thinks that documentaries should maintain a standard of respected journalism, as she bashed Netflix and its journalism standards.
Final Words
After giving a lengthy piece on the whereabouts of Sarma and Anthony, it seems like there is a lot we still don’t know about who’s to blame and who’s not. Even though Sarma takes responsibility for her crimes.
Anthony is yet to come out publicly and speak his side of the story. We don’t know about Anthony Strangis but Sarma is taking a brave step by writing a book that’s coming out just next year.
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