Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Cooking the Books / Restaurants Uh-Oh, Spaghetti: American Express Sues Tangredi Restaurants
Posted by Nicki Wood on Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 5:30 AM
NashvillePost.com reported yesterday that American Express has asked a federal court here for help in recovering $1.14 million in what it calls fraudulent charges by the M. Tangredi restaurant firm.
The suit alleges that a fictitious card was obtained in the name of a Tangredi employee and that later a fictitious merchant account was set up for a club called "Minc," which is alleged by American Express to be a "fictitious entity" set up in a "fictitious name."
Read the full NashvillePost.com story at this link.
View the lawsuit at this link.
Comments (25)
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With all the claims made by past employees this is no surprise. I started a blog showing Nashville the way this family operates, and was threatened with legal action by "Big" Mike. I was even threatened by employees that I would be "tracked down". Nashville shouldn't put up with people like this. To read claims of how legal his business is made by Michael Tangredi himself please visit my blog:
http://tangredikarma.blogspot.com/
If you want some good Italian, go to Mama Mia's on Trousdale (I-65 and Harding exit).
I have been shaking my head in disbelief and dismay each time the Tangredi's opened another restaurant in town. Now we see how they managed to stay in business for so long, despite second-rate food, dysfunctional menus, lackluster service, and--in the case of their Hillsboro Village store--vile atmosphere. They should have been busted long ago for crimes against diners.
Could this mean that the space occupied by this pirate on Elliston Place will soon be for lease??
This is GREAT news! Yipee! I'm looking for a location to open my cafe. I love that location. Anyone know who owns the property?
Thanks.
In response to Arnold,
I thought this was a blog about restaurant happenings around Nashville. Does it have to be about food? Recent posts include Allium opening and Plumgood closing. This is a good post by the scene. Follow the blog before posting. Unbelievable!
I took Arnold to mean that the Tangredi's focus should have been on food rather than fraud, as opposed to a criticism of the blog's focus...
I used to work for these assholes. They still owe me paychecks from when I quit, claiming they were "lost".
Fritto - sounds like the Tangredis wouldn't be opposed to a sub-lease. I mean, they seem to be good at everything BUT actually doing a restaurant, so who knows what deal they would offer you. Just make sure you don't sign anything that vaguely resembles a credit card application in the process!
Are federal charges next?
This made me want to sign up for freecreditreport.com.
Sarah, these are federal charges. It's the federal court here that's being asked to act. The feds, they don't play around. Wondering what is the fate of the hapless employee in whose name they opened the account.
I am an attorney in Chattanooga, but I do business in Nashville and frequent the Tangredi chain. The suit is in a federal court, but it is a civil matter. Federal charges will only be filed if Amex can prove their end and if that happens, then Tangredi would have to refuse repayment.
The only thing that puts it in a federal court is that it involves entities that are located in different states, making it a federal court matter. (i.e. Amex wouldn't take it to Davidson county court b/c they're not located in Davidson county).
This case is hard to understand for me...
I don't think that Amex would extend anybody $1m that easily. I have a platinum business card and even a $10k purchase requires additional approval from them where I have to call up to approve the charge. It all just sounds impossible.
I'm that hapless employee that the Tangredi's "duped", but all the information they received from me was obtained by my W-2, so duped isn't a very apt word. Needless to say, the papers are all correct, every last word.
Mike - What the hell is wrong with you? You dug your own grave and I hope you rot in it.
Laura, thanks for reaching out to Bites. You have my sympathies and best wishes. Can you tell us what your role will be in the proceedings? Do you know whether there are separate charges pending for the restaurant's opening an account in another person's name?
Laura, are you going to take Tangredi to court as well, or is this already the result that type of action? I mean, did Amex attempt to recover this money from you since you were listed on the account? This whole thing is just unclear to me, especially how Amex would forward anybody this type of money. If I read everybody's story correctly, the way it went down would have had to be this: Tangredi would have had to obtain an Amex, with Laura's name, and then run a charge on the card for the extraneous amount of $1M. It's beyond me how Amex or the Credit Card Processor for Tangredi would not have caught such large amounts being processed. Like I said before, I have a law firm and when I run a client's credit card for a retainer (about $1500), I receive a call from my card processor verifying the charge and most of the time I need to fax them proof of the transaction (i.e. the retainer agreement, or the signed charge slip). This whole situation is very unique to say the least...
but since the tangredis are alleged to be both parties of the charge, wouldn't that be easy to fake? I mean, if I open a card in Laura's name but with my signature, and I charge the card to my business, when I the business get called to verify the transaction by me the fake cardholder, don't I the fraudulent card holder just sign the same name I did originally and fax that in from me the business so they, the duped Amex can say, yep, that's the signature! ?
now, the credit line is something else, but these things can happen quickly and have amazing stories. please don't settle, we really want to be nosey guses and hear all the details !!
That was sort of my question, SL. They opened both a merchant account to receive charges and the other kind of account, presumably to make the charges. One reporter told me on the QT that the first acct, the personal one, was sort of testing the waters, then the second one was where the floodgates were really opened. Read the lawsuit. $98k in one day.
Hey Fluffernutter, nice job keeping the information shared with you by a reporter on the QT. I'm quite sure "on the QT" stands for and means ON THE QUIET. Remind me to never tell you a secret. Geez.
It wasn't exactly QT; I wouldn't actually share a QT. Here were the exact words: "What it looks like, and you wouldn't really want to report it like this because it's inference and no one will corroborate it, is that the first account seems to have been them testing the waters, and the second account was the real money." There's plenty about this case that's QT, and I haven't reported, which is too bad because it's juicy.
good grief, piling on Fluffernutter in the face of these charges is ridiculous. The charges are public record, the lawsuit is public record. If people didn't talk to reporters and vice versa, Nixon would probably still be President. well, he's dead now, but you get the gist of it.
