Ryan, Illinois Secretary of State from 1990 to 1998, is accused of directing an underling to enlist Warner in locating office space in early 1994. Warner directed the employee to a building at 605 Maple Rd. in Joliet, according to the indictment, but also is accused of buying "a substantial ownership interest in the building, but concealed the interest by using a third-party nominee." The indictment alleges Ryan signed off on a four-year lease in January 1995, which also allowed Warner to receive $387,500.

Warner is accused of attempting to hide his role in brokering a six-year lease for space at 17 N. State St. in 1991, when the Secretary of State's office moved from 188 W. Randolph St. Fitzgerald's office charges Warner of receiving $383,276 in commissions on the $6.4-million deal while concealing his involvement by having someone else's name on the contract with the property manager. The 388,000-sf, 92-year-old building changed hands in 2001 for $12.8 million, according to property records.

After the Secretary of State's police department decided in 1992 to use a building at 405 N. Mannheim Rd. in Bellwood, Warner used another third party to front for him as he bought an interest in the property, according to Fitzgerald's indictment. Warner allegedly received about $171,000 over 10 years from the Secretary of State office's lease on the building, now owned by a North Side company.