Mayor denies wrongdoing in a corruption probe into Milan's building boom

MILAN (AP) — Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala on Monday said he would not step down in the face of a sweeping probe into the city’s massive urban development over the last two decades, saying, “My hands are clean.” The city’s top urban development official, however, resigned while denying wrongdoing.

Milan prosecutors last week announced a widespread investigation into the real estate boom that has seen skyscrapers transform the city’s skyline and entire neighborhoods rebuilt, including the construction of an Olympic village for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

The investigation targets more than 70 people, including Sala, as prosecutors allege corruption that made Italy’s financial and fashion capital “a commodity to be plundered.’’ The probe alleges that developers bribed officials to speed building permits and win approval for projects.

Prosecutors are seeking the arrest of six people, including Giancarlo Tancredi, an architect who has been the city’s top urban development official since 2021. Tancredi announced his resignation to focus on his defense but denied any wrongdoing. “My conscience is clear,’’ he said.

Sala, a member of the center-left Democratic Party who is serving his second term as mayor, denied any wrongdoing during an address to the city council, saying, “All I have done is in the interest of the city.’’

Sala pledged to continue in his mandate, which expires at the end of 2026, and underlined the necessity of continuing projects that are in the works, including determining the future of Milan’s San Siro stadium, home to soccer clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. The teams want the city to jointly buy the stadium so they can tear it down and build a new one.

The investigation has led to calls by the center-right majority that governs from Rome for Sala to step down. But he has received the support of Lombardy's regional governor, Attilio Fontana, a prominent center-right politician, while Premier Giorgia Meloni urged caution, saying an investigation should not automatically lead to resignation.

Milan’s extraordinary development around the 2015 Expo and now the Olympics has sent real estate prices skyrocketing. Many say ordinary workers have been priced out in gentrification.

“Do we need to do more to make Milan more fair, healthy and balanced? By definition, we must always do more,’’ Sala said.

Milan's Councillor for Urban Regeneration, Giancarlo Tancredi, center left, delivers his speech in the City Council Monday, July 21, 2025, in Milan, northern Italy, as prosecutors are investigating more than 70 individuals, including Mayor Sala and Tancredi, over a sprawling corruption probe into the city's real estate industry. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

People ask for the resignation of Milan's Mayor Giuseppe Sala outside the City Council Monday, July 21, 2025, in Milan, northern Italy, as prosecutors are investigating more than 70 individuals, including Mayor Sala, over a sprawling corruption probe into the city's real estate industry. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

People ask for the resignation of Milan's Mayor Giuseppe Sala outside the City Council Monday, July 21, 2025, in Milan, northern Italy, as prosecutors are investigating more than 70 individuals, including Mayor Sala, over a sprawling corruption probe into the city's real estate industry. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Milan's Mayor Giuseppe Sala, right, congratulates the Councillor for Urban Regeneration, Giancarlo Tancredi, left, after his speech in the City Council Monday, July 21, 2025, in Milan, northern Italy, as prosecutors are investigating more than 70 individuals, including Mayor Sala and Tancredi, over a sprawling corruption probe into the city's real estate industry. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Milan's Mayor Giuseppe Sala waits to deliver his address to the City Council Monday, July 21, 2025, in Milan, northern Italy, as prosecutors are investigating more than 70 individuals, including Mayor Sala, over a sprawling corruption probe into the city's real estate industry. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday vowed to continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro during her first press conference since Maduro was ousted by the United States earlier this month.

Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, running Venezuela’s feared intelligence service and managing its crucial oil industry. A 56-year-old lawyer and politician, Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president two days after the Trump administration snatched Maduro from his fortified compound and claimed the U.S. would be calling the shots in Venezuela.

Addressing journalists from a red carpet at the presidential palace, Rodríguez said the process of releasing prisoners had begun under Maduro and “has not yet concluded.”

“That process remains open,” she said, adding that the releases sent a message that Venezuela was starting “a new political moment that allows for understanding of divergence and of political and ideological diversity."

That comment seemingly alluded to detainees held on what human rights groups say are politically motivated charges. Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, has verified at least 68 prisoners freed since the government under Rodríguez promised to release a “significant number” of prisoners.

The move was seen as an effort to comply with Washington's demands.

Despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term, President Donald Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales. To ensure the former Maduro loyalist does his bidding, he threatened Rodríguez with a “situation probably worse than Maduro,” who faces federal charges of drug-trafficking from a Brooklyn jail.

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump sidelined María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for her campaign to restore the nation’s democracy. Machado is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday.

Relatives and friends of political prisoners hold banners and candles calling for their loved ones to be set free outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 after the government announced prisoners would be released. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Narwin Gil cries as she waits for news of her detained sister, Marylyn Gil, outside El Helicoide, headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and a detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Mileidy Mendoza, center, waits at Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, where her fiancé Eric Diaz is being held as a political detainee in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, after the government announced prisoners would be released.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Students lay out photos of people they consider political prisoners at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President, her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, as they prepare to make a statement at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)