Former Bay Area Chef Faces Federal Charges After Alleged String of Bank Robberies By Moná Thomas

A former chef from the Bay Area in California is facing federal charges after being accused of robbing multiple banks in San Francisco last year.

According to information from the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office shared with PEOPLE, Valentino Luchin, 54, is accused of attempting to rob a Citibank on Wednesday, Jan. 7 in Orinda, Calif. Officials say officers responded to a call around 10:56 a.m. for an “armed male suspect” who fled the scene in a vehicle with “some cash.”

The Orinda Police Department, assisted by Detectives from the Lafayette Police Department, was able to identify the suspect through witness descriptions and surveillance footage.

 Luchin was later served a search warrant at his home in Lafayette, Calif. and detained shortly after. He was later arrested and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on one count of robbery. “He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail,” shared the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office.

The latest robbery is in line with three San Francisco bank robbery attempts from September 2025, which federal prosecutors say were conducted by Luchin, passing notes to employees demanding cash. Authorities allege two of the attempts were successful, resulting in roughly $2,800 taken, while a third robbery was unsuccessful, ABC News reported on Jan. 10.

Luchin was arrested later that month and has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Prosecutors allege the robberies occurred on the same day in neighborhoods near Chinatown, North Beach and the city’s Central District, where Luchin lived at the time.

Court records cited by the Chronicle show Luchin faces four felony charges tied to the alleged robberies, which prosecutors say involved “great violence” or actions showing “cruelty, viciousness or callousness.”

During one incident, officials allege, a bank employee handed over a bag of cash out of fear after a man believed to be Luchin passed a note demanding money. While the exact amount was not disclosed, prosecutors cited the “great monetary value” of the crimes as an aggravating factor.

A trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 21, according to the outlet. Luchin remains in jail after a judge set his bond at $200,000.

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The case is not Luchin’s first run-in with law enforcement. The former executive chef of Italian restaurant Rose Pistola in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood was previously convicted in connection with a 2018 bank robbery in Orinda, California. In that case, authorities said Luchin took more than $15,000 from a Citibank branch before fleeing. He later pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree robbery and was sentenced to one year in county jail and three years of probation, per the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office.

At the time, Luchin told ABC7 that financial desperation following the closure of his Walnut Creek restaurant, Ottavio, played a role in his actions. The restaurant shut down in 2016 after six years in business. San Francisco Eater later reported that Luchin and his wife had accumulated more than $110,000 in debt after defaulting on a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan.

“Through witness descriptions and surveillance video, the Orinda Police Department, assisted by Detectives from the Lafayette Police Department, were able to identify the suspect,” the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office stated in a press release at the time.

According to the Chronicle, Luchin’s public defender is now seeking a mental health diversion to provide substance abuse treatment. A hearing on that request is scheduled for next week. The charges remain allegations, and the case is ongoing.