Arizona Man Behind The Collapse Of Toby Keith And Rascal Flatts Restaurant Chains Has Been Indicted

Toby Keith

The former mobster reportedly responsible for the failure of the TOBY KEITH and RASCAL FLATTS restaurant chains has been indicted on federal fraud charges, according to the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The newspaper reports that FRANK CAPRI was arrested WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5th. The arrest comes after CAPRI, his mother, DEBBIE CORVO, and an unnamed third person were indicted by a federal grand jury on TUESDAY, JANUARY 28th on 16 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, the ARIZONA U.S. Attorney’s office announced.

A detailed, long-term investigation by the ARIZONA REPUBLIC found that CAPRI (real name FRANK GIOLA JR) is a former member of NEW YORK’s LUCCHESE crime family “who was given a new identity through the Federal Witness Protection Program and used it to bilk developers out of millions of dollars.” After relocating to ARIZONA, he invested in the restaurant business and became “known for the epic collapse of a nationwide chain of TOBY KEITH’s I Love This Bar and Grill restaurants, which went under in 2015 amid allegations of fraud and theft.” The paper further reports that “CAPRI or his companies negotiated deals to build TOBY KEITH restaurants with mall owners and developers throughout the UNITED STATES, then took tens of millions of dollars meant to pay for construction and walked away.”

The paper adds that CAPRI’s company, BOOMTOWN ENTERTAINMENT, “built 20 TOBY KEITH restaurants beginning in 2009 and announced plans to build 20 more that never opened. It closed 19 restaurants in about 18 months. Even as restaurants went under, CAPRI was announcing plans to open new ones that never got built.”

Later, using his girlfriend TAWNY COSTA as a front to reportedly hide his identity, CAPRI did the same with a planned chain of 19 RASCAL FLATTS restaurants, only one of which ever actually opened. It closed a year later. The paper reports that, “Developers paid millions to lure [FLATTS’] RF RESTAURANTS to malls. They offered up-front cash to offset construction costs in exchange for signing long-term leases. They got vacant buildings, incomplete projects and lawsuits.”

The REPUBLIC could not reach CAPRI for comment.

« see more Net News