CLAYTON — Former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger was working in September to arrange a bribe payment in connection to the redevelopment of Jamestown Mall, the Post-Dispatch has learned.

Less clear from available records was who was offering the bribe — and for whom it was intended. But several days later, a recording taken by federal agents inside Stenger’s house seemed to capture the county executive informing his chief of staff that a County Council member’s vote had been secured.

The scheme partially came to light in an FBI agent’s application on March 20 for a search warrant to seize Stenger’s phone. A federal judge ordered the search warrant unsealed on May 7, but names of some individuals were blacked out in the public release. The Post-Dispatch reported on the situation the next day without publishing the names of the project or the individuals.