March 28, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The owner of MARK 1, a masonry company connected in a bribery scheme for the 30th Street Station restoration project, was charged Friday. He faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
An executive of a masonry company in Illinois on Friday became the fourth official charged for allegedly bribing an Amtrak official with $300,000 worth of gifts — including a puppy, watch and vacations — while working on the restoration of 30th Street Station.
Mark Snedden, 69, the owner of MARK 1 Restoration, was the latest person to be indicted and accused of paying off Ajith Bhaskaran for information-sharing and inflated invoices that overbilled the transit company.
Snedden was charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and making and presenting a false claim in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if found guilty.
MARK 1 was awarded a $58 million contract in December 2015 for repairs to the limestone facade at 30th Street. Approximately 90% of the money Amtrak used to pay the contractor was supplied by federal funds, the U.S. attorney's office said. From 2016 to 2019, Bhaskaran allegedly accepted $323,686 in gifts, which includes an $11,000 Tourneau watch, $2,000 steakhouse dinner, tickets to a Bruno Mars concert, limo rentals, a vacation to India, a purebred puppy and $5,350 in training for the dog, according to court documents.
In exchange, MARK 1 allegedly received another $52 million in additional payments via change orders or contract modifications for the project. Although Amtrak didn't say the entire extra work was fraud, the transit agency said it was overbilled by more than $2 million for the repair and restoration project.
Investigators were first alerted to the scheme by an anonymous letter sent to Amtrak's inspector general in 2018, which led to an FBI raid at MARK 1's headquarters in 2019. Two Amtrak employees were also fired for their supposed involvement.
Bhaskaran, who lived in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was in the midst of negotiating a plea deal for a separate Social Security fraud charge when he died in October 2020. He reportedly admitted to accepting bribes for the Amtrak project when he was arrested.
Other MARK 1 employees who have been indicted in the bribery case include former executive Donald Seefeldt, former Vice President Khaled Dallo and Chief Operating Officer Lee Maniatis. All have pleaded guilty.
The 30th Street Station restoration is a $10 billion, 35-year plan that includes the ongoing $550 million project to renovate the south concourse and Market Street plaza. The station's food court is scheduled to reopen later this year.
