23 Subway stores close in Oregon, Washington

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Months after a Subway franchise owner says a bank account was hacked and struggling “to work through it,” 23 stores have been closed in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Subway’s stores are owned by independent franchises and Cap Ten Enterprises owner Ann Bell owned the 23 local shops from Bend to Vancouver that shut down.

She told KOIN 6 News it all started when her bank account was hacked and she lost hundreds of thousands of dollars from that specific account. However, she claimed since the loss was deemed fraud, it was not covered by the FDIC.

“I thought I could handle it, I thought I work through it and I thought that money would come. So I borrowed money elsewhere to try to kind of stay afloat,” Bell recalled. “And looking back now, my main concern the whole time was always to pay our employees to make sure employees got paid. And so other vendors and other bills kind of fell to the wayside. And looking back now, maybe I should have changed that up a little bit and tried to kind of spread the money evenly.”

Subway closed the stores and terminated Bell’s ownership on August 9.

In a statement, a Subway spokesperson confirmed the closure of the 23 stores on Friday, adding they are working quickly to re-open them.

“ Our priority is to ensure guests can continue enjoying freshly made, high-quality, delicious food by identifying experienced operators within our system who can quickly take ownership and re-open the restaurants. “

In light of the sudden closures, Bell emphasized she is now working to make sure everyone gets their final paycheck.

“My employees, their perception is their reality and I totally understand they can’t possibly see it from my side,” she said. “But I want them to know that everyone’s going to be paid, everyone’s going to be, that’s our main concern.”

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