Whenever I see the word mafia or mobster I immediately think of the movie the 'Godfather.' Did Rascal Flatts have to make the mobster an offer he couldn't refuse when trying to get their restaurant? That's not the case in this story, it much crazier!
According to the "The Arizona Republic," they have a story about a "developer" that Rascal Flatts got mixed up with during their restaurant project.
This so called "developer" turns out to be a former mafia guy who's in the Federal Witness Protection Program (What?!). Apparently the deal fell apart because he screwed everyone over in the deal while pocketing millions of dollars.
However, Rascal Flatts was ONLY licensing their name, image, and logo to the restaurant chain, nothing more. They weren't going to be owners, or directly involved.
The craziest part of this story is that the same mafia guy had a similar tie-in with Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill restaurants, which seemed to open and close in the blink of an eye, like the one in St. Louis Park did on June 24, 2015.
The article in The Arizona Republic tells us how this mafia guy operates. If you like crime stuff, it's fascinating. There's even audio of him on the phone swearing up a storm while trying to siphon money out of an unfinished Rascal Flatts restaurant before the project was over. Listen to the calls HERE