![]() Funds were so scarce that managers rushed to cash employees’ bounced paychecks with money from the downtown restaurant’s safe before Hankerson’s representatives arrived to retrieve it, they said. On paper, the company was making $8 million in annual sales, but years of chaos at the Atlanta institution had pushed it to the brink of collapse. In one case, a general manager - one of Hankerson’s childhood friends - put some $12,000 on his credit card to keep the company’s employee health insurance coverage from lapsing, former employees said.īy the time Hankerson, 38, was booked into Clayton County Jail June 22 on felony theft charges, he had pocketed some $52,000 in state taxes during March and April alone, according to his arrest warrant. Managers dug into their own pockets just to keep the restaurant’s doors open for the day, public records and interviews with a dozen former employees and business associates confirmed. The spending exacted a heavy toll on employees who were shorted on their pay after working under grueling and sometimes unsafe conditions. Hankerson siphoned money from his business’s three locations to finance a voracious marijuana habit and sex parties, witnesses have told investigators. As always, her main concern is for her family's well-being and she is making sure the family has the guidance they need to assess the situation and move forward.Now, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned damaging new details about how Hankerson spent the company’s money and treated his employees. Knight was not involved in any way with the operation of the restaurants and she is sure that her son and his business partners will rectify the situation. Gladys Knight lent her name to her son's restaurants in the Atlanta area, similar to a celebrity endorsement. A statement from a spokesperson provided to 11 Alive indicated Knight is focusing on her family. The restaurants reportedly could reopen as early as Thursday, under state control. Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles Concepts has proven to be a dream come true! ![]() Shanga had a dream of starting his own restaurant some day - a restaurant that would serve the food that he had grown up with, while also adding to the legacy of his mother. He continued to display a strong desire and passion to stay connected with restaurants. The hard work in the butcher shop and the first experience of owning a restaurant did not deter Shanga. For a period of time, the family also had a restaurant and learned the pitfalls of owning a restaurant. Shanga's additional connection to the restaurant industry started very early when his father introduced him to working in a butcher shop in Detroit, Michigan. Gladys Knight, together with her son Shanga Hankerson, developed Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles Concepts featuring Gladys Knight's Signature Chicken & Waffles and Gladys Knight's & Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles. The official website portrays the chain as "a dream come true" for both Knight and Hankerson. ![]() Hankerson owns the restaurant chain, which has locations in Midtown, Lithonia Springs, and Southwest Atlanta. ![]() Knight's son Shanga Hankerson was the target of the raid, reports Channel 2, and he's accused of "stealing over $650,000 in both sales and withholding tax."Ī Department of Revenue official told Channel 2 Knight is not part of the investigation - "totally in the clear, nothing about her" - and no other employees are facing charges. All three Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles locations are closed after a raid by the Georgia Department of Revenue. ![]()
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