Subway Supply Chief, Brother Indicted in $80 Million Kickback Scheme

A federal grand jury has indicted two siblings on charges they ran an $80 million fraud scheme against Subway franchisees, according to NBC 6 South Florida.

Janet Risi Field, 66, and her brother Steven Louis Risi, 70, allegedly pocketed millions in kickbacks from vendor brokers while Risi Field controlled supply purchasing for the sandwich chain's owners. Each faces up to 20 years in prison.

Risi Field founded Independent Purchasing Cooperative, the nonprofit that negotiates supply deals for Subway franchisees, and ran it from 1996 to 2021. The cooperative's entire mandate was simple: secure the lowest possible prices for owners.

What do prosecutors allege happened?

Instead of driving bargains, prosecutors say Risi Field cut secret deals with vendor brokers who shared a slice of their contract profits with her. Shell companies allegedly collected more than $60 million. The money reportedly paid for:

• Homes in Florida and North Carolina
• Jewelry
• Private club memberships
• A slush fund covering her personal assistant, housekeeper and handyman

How did the scheme end?

IPC's board fired Risi Field in 2021 for unrelated reasons. The board had no idea about the alleged fraud at the time. She walked away with more than $6 million in severance.

Is Subway itself implicated?

Subway is not named in the indictment. Prosecutors instead refer to "an American multinational fast-food chain that specialized in submarine sandwiches and had over 20,000 locations in North America."

The case now moves toward trial, with the siblings facing two decades behind bars if convicted — and franchisees left to reckon with how a purchasing cooperative designed to save them money allegedly did the opposite.