A vegan restaurateur gets scammed by a practiced con artist
Stories like the one in Bad Vegan are almost unbelievable, that one person could fall for so many lies and end up in the trap of scammer only interested in draining them of all of their money. Somehow the charisma and storytelling abilities of such a con artist can exceed all logic and rationality and even the most intelligent person can fall prey.
In Bad Vegan, vegan restaurateur Sarma Melngailis was the target. Melngailis met Shane Fox on social media, who claimed to be involved in black ops and covert activities, and they began a friendship, then a relationship. They met in person, and he made grand promises: to wipe out her restaurant debt, to make her dog immortal, to make her the queen of some secret society. If only she’d send him money. To prove herself. Which she did, many times.
The story isn’t so much about her veganism—that is only a small part—but how Fox, whose real name is Anthony Strangis, manipulated, brainwashed, and conned Melngailis out of $1.7 million, as well as scamming her mother, her investors, and causing her vegan restaurant business to go under.
Melngailis is the main interviewee for this four-part Netflix documentary, along with former employees from her restaurant, a reporter, and her family members. Strangis, while not interviewed directly for the film, appears in conversations she secretly recorded after the scam.
It’s a cautionary tale, and if you think you’d be immune to a con like this, pay close attention. It could happen to anyone.
True Crime Docket 