Netflix is serving up your latest true-crime obsession with the new docuseries Bad Vegan.
The four-part series, premiering Wednesday, March 16, explores what director Chris Smith describes to Variety as the "inconceivable" story of vegan chef Sarma Melngailis, who pleaded guilty to grand larceny, tax fraud and conspiring to defraud in 2019.
Smith was a self-described fan of the once famous restaurateur and couldn't understand how Sarma, who mingled with famous figures like Bill Clinton and Alec Baldwin, had found herself in this predicament. So, after she was released from prison, he and executive producer Mark Emms sat down with her for an interview that ended up lasting eight hours.
He told Variety of the experience, "That's when the story started to reveal itself to me in terms of the nuance of the journey she had gone on."
Sarma revealed to the filmmakers her side of the story, claiming that she had fallen in love with Anthony Strangis, a.k.a. Shane Fox, who had convinced her to steal nearly $2 million from her restaurant Pure Food and Wine. How exactly did he do this? Well, he promised her he'd make her dog immortal.
While it sounds far-fetched, Sarma and those around her explain in the docuseries how these events came to happen.
One key figure who's missing? The supposed con man himself. He too was arrested in 2016, with Forbes reporting in May 2017 that Shane had pleaded guilty to four counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree. The New York Post reported that Strangis was sentenced to five years probation in 2017.
Shane declined to participate in the documentary. E! News reached out to his lawyer for comment.
"Obviously, it would have been nice to have gotten his perspective," says Smith, "but it wasn't something we felt would preclude us from being able to make the series because you're living in Sarma's world and you're going on the journey from her perspective."
He added, "My goal with projects is never to try to tell the audience what to think."
True-crime fans can come to their own conclusions when all four parts of Bad Vegan stream on Netflix Wednesday, March 16.