‘Vegan Bernie Madoff” Stole, Gambled Away Millions From Restaurant Biz
- Sarma Melngailis, along with her husband Anthony Strangis, accused of stealing $2 million from her vegan restaurant
- Employees, who once walked out en masse after not being paid for weeks, called Melngailis “The Vegan Bernie Madoff”
- Couple captured in Tennessee after ordering a Dominos pizza
- Couple faces up to 15 years in prison with $1.2 million of the funds gambled away in casinos
Sarma Melngailis, a 1994 Penn State grad, and hubby Anthony Strangis are accused of stealing more than $2 million from the vegan restaurant Melngailis founded in New York City, Pure Food and Wine.
Former staff, who walked out en masse after weeks of nonpayment, referred to Melngailis as “The Vegan Bernie Madoff”
In an ironic twist, after the couple ran off to Tennessee last summer, they were captured having placed a not-so-vegan delivery for a Dominos Pizza. Melngailis would later claim it was meat-eating Strangis who ordered the pizza.
Melngailis and Strangis are accused of stealing more than $2 million from the vegan restaurant, and gambling away $1.2 million of it at Connecticut casinos. They face up to 15 years in prison.
The New York Post conducted a jailhouse interview with Melngailis, who now despises gambling.
“I hate gambling, it’s preying on the vulnerable,” she said.
The Post also managed to land interviews with exes of both Stangis and Melngailis, painting an unpleasant picture of both.
Anthony Strangis’ ex-wife, Stacy, told the New York Post this past weekend: “When I met him, he said he was a retired Navy SEAL and [had been] shot in the line of action in the chest. I would always see what I thought were bandages [on] his chest. Come to find out, he was just taping his man boobs down.”
Ex-boyfriend Matthew Kenney, to the Post in 2005: “She’s thrown stools, grapefruits and phones at me. She would leave cryptic notes with big kitchen knives stuck into vegetables. She punched me in the head and cut me with her ring.”
Melngailis is currently being housed at Rikers Prison, where her request for a vegan diet has been denied.
Her next hearing is yet to be scheduled.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
