Luca Alessandro Longobardi

A native of Naples, Longobardi left home for New York City with $500 at the age of 21 to begin his career.[4][5] He sold shirts in the streets and even spent nights sleeping in Grand Central Station before taking up a job at VTR Capital, a satellite operation of the notorious, now-defunct investment bank Stratton Oakmont, founded by Jordan Belfort. He then worked at Ladenburg Thalmann, another investment bank,[6] before founding his own investment banking group State Capital in 1999, opening offices in Italy, Miami, New York and Brazil.[7]

In August 2010 Longobardi went to the United States consulate in São Paulo to renew his American visa. After the consulate's computer system identified him as a fugitive issued with a Red Notice from Interpol,[8] he was arrested by an FBI agent and a Brazilian policeman, who accused him of laundering money for the Italian mafia;[6][9] he later became known in the press as "the mafia's banker".[10][4][11] While awaiting extradition to Italy, he was placed in a maximum security prison along with notorious criminals such as Colombian drug lord Pablo Rayo Montaño and Italian terrorist Pierluigi Bragaglia. He was cleared of all charges and released in September 2010 after it emerged that he had nothing to do with crime he was accused for, neither with the mafia.[7]

In 2015, Longobardi published a book entitled Branded "The Mafia's Banker" (Italian: Per tutti ero il banchiere dei clan) documenting his experience during his arrest and time in prison.[4] A video promoting the book was released on YouTube on 22 October 2015, reaching over 1 million views and winning the Best Trailer/Promos award for May 2016 at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.[12][13] In December 2016, Longobardi's film An Italian Food Story won the Best Inspirational Film award at the Los Angeles Film Awards.[14]

On 17 January 2017 it was announced that Longobardi opened his own restaurant, 108 Garage, in Notting Hill, West London.[5] and becoming one of london's most acclaimed restaurants, receiving positive reviews from food critics.[15][16][17][18] Longobardi was named in the world's 100 coolest people list in food and drink, by Business Insider.[19] In December 2019, Longobardi signed with a media group, to produce "The Mafia's Banker" a TV Series on his life.

Longobardi was married to Maria Joana Parizotto, who was voted Miss Brazil in 1996 and Miss Nuestra Beleza International in 1997.[7] They have 2 daughters: Julia and Raffaella.[10]