Young man swindles military out of $200 million

Posted on 02. May, 2008 by Derek Bargeld in Hidden Crimes, War Coverage

(CNN) — Efraim Diveroli’s father hoped his son would become “a nice Jewish doctor or lawyer”.

What he got instead is a 22-year-old international arms dealer who faces a congressional inquiry for allegedly selling old Chinese ammunition to the U.S. military to equip allies in Afghanistan.

Diveroli is president of AEY Inc., a South Florida company which, according to U.S. government documents, has done more than $10 million of business with the U.S. government since 2004.

The papers also reveal the company struck it big in 2007 with contracts totaling more than $200 million to supply ammunition, assault rifles and other weapons to the Afghan National Army and police. The company’s contract said it would get the ammunition from Hungary.  

But Army investigators found what the Afghan military got included corroded ammunition made in China as long as 46 years ago.

For now, relatives say Efraim Diveroli is out of the country. CNN attempts to contact him have not been successful.

His grandfather told WPLG that Diveroli is now in Turkey or Albania doing his “patriotic” duty. “He’s all over the world getting what the military needs,” Angelo Diveroli says.

But in a MySpace message exchange with Radar magazine, a person thought to be David Packouz, a 25-year-old who was AEY’s vice president, refers to Efraim Diveroli as “my former scumbag partner” and says he is motivated by money.   MORE>>>