Milan's urban planning investigation: new details emerge from Tancredi and Marinoni's interrogations.

The investigation into urban planning in Milan has received significant new developments following the questioning of Tancredi and Marinoni. Their testimonies, central to the investigation, have provided key details that could alter the course of the ongoing investigation. Authorities are now carefully analyzing the findings, while the city awaits updates that could have significant repercussions on the future of the area.

After nearly eight months of preliminary hearings , Judge Alessandra Di Fazio has ordered the indictment of six people involved in the Park Towers project on Via Crescenzago in Milan. The trial, which will begin on November 12th before the Milan Court, concerns building violations, illegal subdivision, and forgery . The defendants include entrepreneur Andrea Bezziccheri, designer Sergio Maria Asti, builder Roberto Verderio, and three officials from the One-Stop-Shop for Construction.

The investigation concerns the construction of two towers, 81 and 59 meters tall , and a lower building, authorized as "building renovation" through a Certified Notification of Commencement of Activity, despite the lack of an implementation plan. The towers, marketed as "Your home overlooking Lambro Park," represent a prime example of alleged violations, including unlawful savings on planning fees, simplified procedures awarded to private individuals without public coordination, a lack of essential public services, and financial damage to municipal coffers, with estimated losses of up to millions of euros.

The indictment was not a foregone conclusion : in 2023, the seizure of the area to protect the buyers had been denied, but the investigating judge had nevertheless highlighted serious aspects of illegality, defining the case as an alteration of the Lombard urban planning system.

This morning, six of the main suspects in the investigation into the city's urban planning were questioned before Preliminary Investigations Judge Mattia Fiorentini, for whom the prosecutor's office has requested precautionary measures.

Among the defendants who appeared before the investigating judge were Giuseppe Marinoni , former president of the Landscape Commission, accused of corruption, forgery, and inducement to promise or give benefits, for whom the prosecutor's office has requested his arrest; former councilor for Urban Regeneration Giancarlo Tancredi , also under investigation for corruption and the subject of a request for house arrest; and Manfredi Catella , president of the Coima group, implicated in corruption and forgery charges relating to projects such as Scalo Romana and the former Pirellino, for whom a request for prison has also been submitted.

Giuseppe Marinoni, upon entering the courthouse from Via Freguglia, invited the press to follow the subsequent stages of the investigation, emphasizing the importance of maintaining high levels of vigilance even after the most critical phase of the investigation. During questioning, Marinoni chose to exercise his right to remain silent . His lawyer, Eugenio Bono, submitted a brief defense brief in which he disputed the need for precautionary measures, arguing that there were no instances of corruption and that the picture painted by the prosecutor's office did not reflect what actually happened.

Former councilor Giancarlo Tancredi , represented by Giovanni Brambilla Pisoni, answered the preliminary hearing judge's questions and filed a brief requesting the annulment of the precautionary measure, despite the prosecutor's confirmation of the house arrest request. At the end of the questioning, Tancredi declined to comment further:

" I have nothing to say. I spoke to the judges, and we must respect them."

Federico Pella , the resigning manager of J+S, was also questioned in relation to the investigation, together with Manfredi Catella, who claimed to have answered exhaustively all the questions posed by the investigating judge during the two-hour hearing.

Subsequently, Catella announced he was relinquishing his responsibilities for relations with public administration and professionals involved in this area. The decision was made at the suggestion of the CEO himself and approved with appreciation by Coima's board of directors.