Milan Mayor Beppe Sala is under investigation as part of wide-ranging urban planning inquiries that have seen prosecutors request six arrests, according to reports by major Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, and La Stampa.
Prosecutors allege Sala committed two specific crimes: making false declarations regarding the qualifications of individuals, specifically related to the appointment of Giuseppe Marinoni as president of the City’s Landscape Commission; and undue inducement to provide or promise benefits concerning the “Pirellino” real estate project. The Pirellino project involves architect Stefano Boeri and businessman Manfredi Catella, president of the Coima group.
Investigative documents cited by prosecutors describe Giuseppe Marinoni as lacking independence, portraying him as “vulnerable to blackmail and susceptible to pressure” from Mayor Sala, city planning councillor Giancarlo Tancredi, general director Roberto Malangone, Manfredi Catella, and Stefano Boeri. This alleged lack of independence is central to the undue inducement charge related to the Pirellino development. Sala is also under investigation without formal notification (“senza informazioni di garanzia”) for alleged complicity in false declarations regarding Marinoni’s appointment.
Prosecutors further assert that city sponsorship granted to Marinoni’s studio for the “Porte Metropolitane” (Metropolitan Gates) project, proposed by councillor Tancredi and Mayor Sala, served as an “artificial tool to circumvent regulations.” They claim it facilitated a concealed business plan to develop large building complexes around nine peripheral nodes bordering Milan and its hinterland municipalities. This aspect is key to the false declarations charge concerning Marinoni’s appointment to lead the Landscape Commission.
Mayor Sala is scheduled to address the City Council on Monday regarding the investigation. He informed his cabinet of this intention during a meeting at Palazzo Marino, where council members reportedly expressed solidarity. Sources indicate Sala appeared visibly strained by the situation.
Reacting to the news, Mayor Sala told Corriere della Sera, “I find it astonishing that the mayor learns from a newspaper that he is under investigation and not from the Prosecutor’s Office. This is an unacceptable method.” Regarding the Pirellino project, Sala stated, “We sold it in 2019 and we’re still at a standstill. Six years have passed and work never started. Far from inducement, it was a continuous discussion because we never reached an agreement on what they could do.” On Marinoni’s appointment, Sala explained, “The composition of the Landscape Commission is managed by a specific municipal office that selects profiles and decides the members. The relationship between the mayor and the commission is practically non-existent. I add that I never even had Marinoni’s phone number.”