Two Cranston restaurants close amid business dispute, fraud allegations
A business dispute and fraud allegations landed a local restaurant owner in hot water, forcing two popular Cranston restaurants to shut their doors.Campanella's restaurant and Itri Ristorante in Cranston are no longer serving customers as their owner faces fraud allegations.A court-appointed receiver has taken control of the businesses while litigation plays out in court.NBC 10 News asked if it was his intention to have them open in the near future or keep them closed until they're sold."I think it's much more likely that I would keep them closed until I sell them," said the receiver, Richard Land.Owner Andrew Loffredo denied the allegations against him."This all stems from a family court case," he told NBC 10 News. "My family business dragged into my work business."A court-appointed examiner claims to have found ownership disputes, inconsistent operating agreements, and evidence of poor financial controls, which the court said warranted receivership for Loffredo’s businesses.After reviewing allegations of unpaid taxes, bounced employee checks, unpaid vendors and operating with insufficient funds, a judge determined there was a serious risk to the businesses."The job of a receiver is to try to maximize the value of the assets. So, in doing that, I'll try to find buyers for these assets and sell them," Land said.Two other restaurants under receivership are still operating."The immediate pressing issues are to try to stabilize, make sure we can keep operating the businesses that are operating, keep people employed, and find buyers for the businesses," Land said.
