July 18, 2024
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Lee Maniatis, chief operating officer of MARK 1 Restoration, allegedly bribed an Amtrak official to approve inflated invoices for restoration work his company did on 30th Street Station. He was charged Wednesday.
An executive for a company involved in the restoration of 30th Street Station was charged Wednesday in an alleged bribery scheme tied to the project.
Lee Maniatis, chief operating officer of MARK 1 Restoration in Dolton, Illinois, allegedly offered trips, an $11,000 watch, a $2,000 steakhouse meal and a dog to Amtrak official Ajith Bhaskaran, who was overseeing the project. In exchange, prosectutors allege Bhaskaran approved inflated invoices submitted by Maniatis and others, over-billing Amtrak throughout the project.
MARK 1 was awarded a contract in 2015 to restore the station's 2,000-plus window panes and replace 950 exterior limestone panels.
Maniatis was charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. His arraignment date hasn't been set, but Maniatis' lawyer told the Chicago Tribune that he had been cooperating with the investigation since 2019 and would continue to do so. More charges are expected, the newspaper reported.
Bhaskaran, who died in 2020, accepted $323,686 worth of gifts from MARK 1 officials from 2016 to 2019, federal prosecutors allege. They included a $4,775 purebred German shepherd puppy and $5,350 in training, a Tourneau watch, a vacation to India, alcohol and expensive dinners, tickets to a Bruno Mars concert and limo rentals. In exchange, MARK 1 allegedly received $52 million in excess billings, nearly double the cost of the $58.5 million contract.
In 2018, Bhaskaran told WHYY that the project required additional work, resulting in the added costs.
"During the course of the project, we did add additional scope," he said. "So it was actually a business decision taken, because we added a lot of additional work, in terms of blast-film and additional limestone replacement, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do this work. And these decisions were taken at the highest level."
Investigators began looking into the matter after an anonymous letter was sent to Amtrak's inspector general in 2018, and the FBI raided MARK 1's headquarters in 2019. Two other Amtrak employees were fired for their alleged involvement.
"Amtrak took swift and definitive action to terminate the employees and contractor involved," the transit company said in an email. "We have also enhanced our oversight of capital projects to protect the company from criminal activities. We continue to cooperate with the investigation.”
Bhaskaran, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was in the midst of negotiating a plea deal for a separate charge involving Social Security fraud when he died in October 2020. He reportedly had admitted to accepting bribes for the Amtrak project after his arrest.
Khaled Dallo, a former vice president at MARK 1, was charged with bribery in March and has since pleaded guilty. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 26.
The restoration of 30th Street Station is part of a $10 billion, 35-year plan to redevelop the area around the train station. It includes the ongoing $550 million project to renovate the station's south concourse, including its food court, and Market Street plaza.
