Chicago's McCormick Place convention centre

A federal indictment has charged two men with mail fraud for rigging 2006 contracts to provide forklifts for two major trade shows at Chicago's McCormick Place convention centre.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Rudy Fratto, 66, at his Darien, Illinois home on 12 March. A US magistrate released Fratto later after he was fitted with a home monitoring device. A news release from the US attorney for the northern district of Illinois says Fratto has allegedly represented himself as a member of the "Chicago outfit".

William A Degironemo, 66, of Inverness, Illinois was named in the indictment and also charged with lying to federal agents during the investigation.

The indictment alleges that the men arranged for Degironemo's purported business, MidStates Equipment Rental and Sales Inc, to fraudulently receive subcontracts through trade show general contractor Greyhound Exposition Services (GES) of Las Vegas, Nevada to supply forklifts during the International Machine and Tool Show (IMTS) and the National Plastics Exposition. GES co-operated in the federal investigation.

The indictment traces financial threads and nuances of the deal back to 2001 and discusses a role of purported members of a Cleveland, Ohio organised crime family and a so-called Individual A.

Fratto and Degironemo agreed to split profits and proceeds between themselves and Individual A with Fratto suggesting "that Individual A could use his share to repay the 'debt' he owed" to the Cleveland group, the indictment says.

"In December 2005, without the knowledge or consent of GES, Fratto and Degironemo allegedly received from Individual A non-public pricing information that they had requested concerning a competitor's confidential bid," the investigators allege. Fratto and Degironemo allegedly used the confidential information in submitting a proposal in mid-January. GES awarded the forklift subcontracts to MidStates on 29 January.

FBI agents report Degironemo lying during an 18 August 2008 investigative interview, falsely stating that he "had no idea what MidStates' competitors' forklift pricing was prior to submitting the MidStates bid for the IMTS forklift contract".

In seeking the business, Degironemo had asserted to GES that MidStates was a "leader in the rental material handling industry for over 20 years" and offered one of the forklift industry's most diverse fleets. The indictment alleges that MidStates was not actively involved in the forklift business.