It's going to take more than a couple of chicken teriyaki subs on wheat to get Fred DeLuca out of this pickle.
DeLuca, who lives in Broward County, is facing a $5 billion lawsuit from a Palm Beach developer who claims the Subway president squeezed him out of a lucrative project near Orlando, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Anthony Pugliese had dreams of a green community called Destiny just south of Mickey Mouse land and asked DeLuca to become a partner in his dream. DeLuca, who at last count was worth about $1.6 billion (that's a lot of $5 foot longs), eagerly accepted and then double-crossed Pugliese, the lawsuit claims.
After all, who better to involve in a green project than a guy who has made a lot of green selling sandwiches?
"They hung him out to dry," said Willie Gary, Pugliese's attorney. "This is a trillion dollar project."
DeLuca has not responded to the lawsuit yet.
The lawsuit claims that through a series of complex machinations, DeLuca squeezed Pugliese out of his own project, which was his plan all along. Pugliese said he invested $10 million into the project and has since had to lay off workers after DeLuca took over the project.
