Antonio La Torre, a Scotland-based restaurateur known for his seafood risotto and for being the older brother of a notorious Naples-based mobster, was jailed in Italy over a plot to kill two public prosecutors, reported British media on Monday.

Anti-mafia protest posters (CC 3.0)

La Torre was snagged during police raids in the Italian seaside town of Mondragone after authorities intercepted phone calls between him and his younger brother, Augusto La Torre, now held in a high-security prison in Piedmont.

In those phone calls, the two allegedly discussed killing two Italian anti-Mafia prosecutors, Alessandro D’Alessio and his deputy, Maria Laura Lalia Morra. They also talked about how to hide guns.

The Post reported that in one phone call, Augusto told Antonio that he “kills people,” and told him to call D’Alessio, suggesting that Augusto still gives orders from prison.

Italian police told the Sunday Post that the elder La Torre is now being held on remand, and “will be processed in the next months.”

After a string of mafia-related convictions in Italy, Antonio La Torre moved to Scotland in 1984. He opened two Italian restaurants, Pavarotti’s and Sorrento, and, according to local press, acted as if he were “a reformed character.”

Then it came out that his high-class Italian restaurants were a front for laundering mafia money. He was extradited to Italy and sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment in 2006, but was released in 2014.



Now, Italian police say La Torre will soon face a court date in Parma, and is being investigated over attempted robbery, attempted extortion, and illegal possession of firearms.