Subway Franchisees’ Own Purchasing Co-op Was Skimmed for $80 Million, Prosecutors Say
The short answer
On October 1, 2026, federal prosecutors in Miami unsealed an indictment charging the founder and former chief executive of the purchasing cooperative that buys for Subway franchisees, and her brother, with a bribery and money-laundering scheme that the government says ran for decades and cost franchisees more than $80 million.
These are allegations. Janet Risi Field and Steven Louis Risi have not been convicted, and an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The case is United States v. Risi Field, No. 1:26-cr-20405 (S.D. Fla.).
For franchise owners, the case is about something ordinary. A purchasing co-op exists to use the system's combined buying power to lower prices. The government's theory is that the person who decided which vendors got the contracts was quietly taking a cut of the fees on those contracts, and the franchisees paying the prices never knew. The fixes are contractual, and most co-ops and franchisee boards can put them in place now.
Who is involved
The U.S. Attorney's announcement does not name Subway. It refers to "Restaurant Chain-1," a fast-food chain with more than 20,000 North American locations, most independently owned by franchisees, and to the "sub sandwich" franchise owners the scheme allegedly defrauded. It does name Independent Purchasing Cooperative, Inc. (IPC), a Miami-based nonprofit that manages the chain's North American supply chain and negotiates the prices franchisees pay for food, supplies and services.
IPC's own court filings identify the chain. In a civil suit IPC brought in 2025, it describes itself as a member-owned cooperative "owned by its members, who are Subway® franchisees" in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. IPC also states that it is separate from Subway and has no role in Subway's franchise agreements, and that its average member owns two Subway restaurants.
What prosecutors allege
According to the government, Risi Field, 66, of Pinecrest, helped form IPC in 1996 and served as its CEO until December 2021, with authority to enter into vendor contracts that set the prices thousands of franchisees paid.
The indictment alleges that she made a secret arrangement with co-conspirators who acted as brokers for IPC vendors, including suppliers of deli meats, cheeses and cookies. The brokers allegedly shared part of the fees generated by those vendor contracts with her and members of her family. She, her brother Steven Louis Risi, 70, of Coral Gables, and other relatives allegedly used shell companies to conceal more than $60 million in bribes and kickbacks.
The announcement describes where the money allegedly went:
Remodeling and furnishing homes in Florida and North Carolina, private investments, more than $400,000 in jewelry, personal expenses and private club memberships.
A slush fund that a co-conspirator allegedly funded beginning in the early 2000s. In total, Risi Field allegedly caused about $25 million in slush fund payments, primarily for herself and other co-conspirators, including more than $420,000 to a family personal assistant and more than $150,000 to her housekeeper and handyman.
About $3.4 million to pay her credit card bills, and about $1 million deposited into an account on which she and her brother were the only signers.
Two concealment allegations stand out. Around 2011, Risi Field allegedly caused a co-conspirator to pay about $8 million to settle a lawsuit by a former IPC contractor who had alleged that she had an inappropriate financial relationship with IPC vendors, and she allegedly kept the allegations and the settlement from IPC's board. When IPC ended her employment in 2021, the board allegedly still did not know about the payments, and it paid her more than $6 million in severance.
The charges and where the case stands
Both defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. Risi Field alone is also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, two counts of honest services wire fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
The announced statutory maximums are 20 years on the money-laundering conspiracy, 10 years on each monetary-transaction count, and, for Risi Field, 20 years on each of the remaining counts. Statutory maximums are not predictions of a sentence. FBI Miami and the FDIC Office of Inspector General are investigating.
The court docket shows the case was unsealed on October 1, with arrest, bond and initial appearance entries the same day. The announcement does not name any vendor or broker.
IPC sued first, and its numbers are bigger
The criminal case did not come out of nowhere. In 2025, IPC sued Risi Field (named as Janet Risi) in Miami-Dade circuit court, Case No. 2025-016431-CA-01. The case was removed to federal court in September 2025 and sent back to state court on January 6, 2026, on IPC's unopposed motion.
IPC's amended complaint is broader than the indictment. It names two other former IPC executives, a Texas restaurant procurement company and two of its principals, two people tied to a former redistribution contractor, and several of IPC's vendors. It asserts claims under Florida's civil RICO statute, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and FDUTPA, and it puts the losses to IPC's members at about $200 million, far above the government's $80 million figure. One example from the complaint: IPC alleges that a single protein supplier wired more than $172 million between 2005 and 2022 to accounts controlled by a company IPC had engaged only to source produce.
Those are a private party's allegations in a pending civil case. None of them has been decided.
What a franchisee, or a co-op board, should take from this
The alleged mechanism needs no sophistication. A co-op deals with brokers. Brokers earn fees. Vendors want to stay on the approved list. The allegation is that a share of those fees went to the person deciding which vendors stayed on the list, and that the people paying the prices never saw it. Four practical points follow.
Find out who gets paid when a product is approved. A co-op should require every vendor and broker to disclose in writing, to the board and not only to management, every fee, rebate, commission and payment to a related party, and to certify that disclosure every year. A "fee" or "commission" paid to a company with no visible role in the product line is the first thing an audit should ask about. A disclosure that stops at the CEO's desk is not disclosure.
Do not sign a severance agreement without a lookback. The government alleges the board paid more than $6 million without knowing about the payments. IPC's complaint says it signed a separation agreement with Risi Field in August 2021 that ended her employment without cause, and that it has since rescinded the agreement as fraudulently induced. Rescinding a signed agreement after the fact is a lawsuit. The cheaper protection is in the agreement itself: an express representation that the departing executive and related parties received nothing from any vendor or broker, a review of vendor payments before signing, and a clawback if the representation turns out to be false. IPC's own complaint shows that clause can work: it is suing a former CFO under a severance agreement that contained a "no knowledge of any violation" representation and a liquidated damages provision.
Treat a vendor-related settlement as a board matter. If the alleged 2011 settlement is proved, it shows how a scheme like this survives: the person who would have to report the claim is the person accused in it. An executive's employment agreement should make any claim or settlement involving vendor relationships a reportable event that goes straight to the board or an audit committee.
Know whether you still own your claim. IPC sues on its members' behalf, and its complaint states that members assign their claims to IPC. A franchisee who believes it overpaid should read its co-op membership documents before deciding whether it can, or needs to, bring a claim of its own.
What this case does not decide
Nothing has been proved. The criminal case will turn on documents: vendor and broker agreements, payment records, bank records, board minutes and the separation agreement. The $80 million figure is the government's number, and the $200 million figure is IPC's. Neither is a finding.
The case also says nothing about Subway's own conduct. Neither the government's announcement nor IPC's amended complaint names the franchisor as a wrongdoer, and IPC stresses that it is a separate company.
Sources
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, "Former Restaurant Chain Cooperative's CEO and Brother Charged in $80 Million Bribery and Money-Laundering Scheme Affecting Thousands of Restaurant Franchisees" (Oct. 1, 2026).
United States v. Risi Field, No. 1:26-cr-20405 (S.D. Fla.) (docket).
Independent Purchasing Cooperative, Inc. v. Risi, No. 1:25-cv-24137 (S.D. Fla.), Amended Complaint (Doc. 4, Nov. 18, 2025), and Order Remanding to State Court (Doc. 46, Jan. 6, 2026); state court Case No. 2025-016431-CA-01 (Fla. 11th Cir. Ct.).
Disclaimer
This post discusses publicly reported legal developments for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney client relationship, and it does not reflect the firm's position in any pending matter. Outcomes depend on the specific facts and the governing law of the relevant jurisdiction.
