Operation Tennessee Waltz

Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennessee state lawmakers and two men identified as "bagmen" in the indictment on the morning of May 26, 2005 on bribery charges. The FBI and TBI followed these arrests with an additional arrest of two county commissioners, one from Hamilton County, and the other a member of the prominent Hooks family of Memphis. Investigators also arrested a former county administrator.

According to the FBI and TBI, all who were indicted were suspected of corruption in the past, so law enforcement had sufficient probable cause to proceed with an investigation.

The FBI set up E-Cycle, a bogus company based in Atlanta and claiming to recycle electronics by sending the electronics to third world countries.

In the May 26 edition of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, an article appeared about Charles Love, reporting that he owed almost $300,000 in back taxes and that the Internal Revenue Service had placed liens against his home. The article also mentioned E-Cycle in passing, as if it were a real company, possibly at the request of the FBI or TBI, to help confirm E-Cycle's seeming legitimacy.

...
Wikipedia