Subway announced Friday that the company once received a "serious" complaint about ex-spokesman Jared Fogle but decided not to follow up on it since it didn't apply to any criminal sexual activity.
This statement comes as the company revealed that it had completed an internal investigation to review whether it was alerted to concerns about Fogle and his pedophillic activities, according to NBC Indiana affiliate WTHR.
The investigation included a review of more than a million online comments and interviews with past and present employees, as well as managers with both the sandwich chain and an advertising fund, the statement said.
Subway spokeswoman Kristen McMahon stated the company received the "serious" complaint from former Florida journalist Rochelle Herman-Walrond in 2011, reported ABC News. Herman-Walrond allegedly worked with the FBI in order to record Fogle expressing his interest in having sexual relations with minors.
She contacted Subway upon gathering what she believed to be sufficient evidence, however, as McMahon notes, while the complaint "expressed concerns about Fogle," it included "nothing that implied anything about sexual behavior or criminal activity involving Fogle."
McMahon declined to comment on the nature of the complaint and said the company regrets the complaint was "not properly escalated or acted upon," according to the Associated Press.
Fogle agreed to plead guilty last month to allegations that he paid for sex acts with girls as young as 16 and had received child pornography. The company has since severed ties with him.
The statement concluded: "It is important to note that the investigation found no further evidence of any other complaints of any kind regarding Mr. Fogle that were submitted to or shared with SUBWAY."
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