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Westshore Pizza co-owners nabbed for loan-sharking

April 11, 2005

Tampa Tribune: Tampa police and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested two co-owners of the Westshore Pizza chain on April 11 and charged them with loan-sharking.

According to arrest affidavits, in 2001, Joseph M. Tumminia Jr. and Barry Clifton Durrance assigned a $20,000 fee to the buyer of a franchise for use of the Westshore Pizza name. The amount would be paid off in 104 weekly installments of $300 cash. The annual interest rate for the fee was calculated at 48 percent, 3 percent above Florida's 45 percent interest rate maximum.

Officials say there are more arrests to come.

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