Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleMilan prosecutors are pursuing arrests in a real estate probe involving Coima's head and others, impacting the city's construction activities.
MILAN (Reuters) -Prosecutors on Wednesday sought the arrest of Milan's councillor for urban planning, the head of real estate firm Coima and four others as part of investigations into planning permits that have led to a construction freeze in Italy's financial capital.
The Milan property market began booming in 2015, when the Expo international exhibition helped to transform the city into a hot spot for developers from Italy and abroad.
But complaints from local residents objecting to a sharp increase in multi-storey buildings triggered investigations into alleged abuses in the fast-tracking of building permits, stalling construction activity.
Manfredi Catella, founder of Coima, one of Italy's biggest developers, and Giancarlo Tancredi, a member of the Milan city council, are under investigation for bribery, according to the summons to a preliminary questioning reviewed by Reuters.
The pair, along with the other four people, will have to appear on July 23 before a judge, who will decide whether to arrest them or not.
A statement from the Milan Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday said Guardia di Finanza police at the same time carried out "24 personal and home searches" on as many people suspected of "corruption and forgery". It did not give further detail.
Spokespeople for Tancredi and for the Milan municipality declined to comment. Coima representatives were not immediately available for comment.
According to the latest prosecutor's documents, award-winning architect Stefano Boeri was also named among those under investigation.
A lawyer representing both Catella and Boeri did not reply to a request for comment emailed by Reuters.
According to the court documents seen by Reuters on Wednesday, prosecutors said investigations related to the largest urban planning projects in Milan, "have brought to light a 'system'....whose purpose is to facilitate the issuance of illegal building permits and to carry out highly speculative real estate transactions".
In February, Boeri, best known for his "Bosco Verticale" (Vertical Forest) apartment project in the city, was banned from working with the public administration by a judge in connection with another urban planning probe.
(Reporting by Emilio ParodiEditing by Keith Weir and Barbara Lewis)
The key figures include Manfredi Catella, founder of Coima, and Giancarlo Tancredi, a member of the Milan city council, who are under investigation for bribery.
Complaints from local residents about the rapid increase in multi-storey buildings led to investigations into alleged abuses in the fast-tracking of building permits.
The Milan Prosecutor's Office reported that Guardia di Finanza police conducted 24 personal and home searches related to the investigation into corruption and fraud.
Stefano Boeri, the architect behind the 'Bosco Verticale' project, is also named in the investigation, highlighting the involvement of prominent figures in Milan's urban planning controversies.
The individuals, including Catella and Tancredi, are required to appear before a judge on July 23, who will decide whether to arrest them.
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