22 year-old awarded $300 million contracts by Pentagon for guns for Afghanistan & Iraq!

[1776Forever]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27ammo.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

22 year-old Efraim Diveroli, who's company AEY has been awarded approximately $300 million in contracts by the Pentagon (Never mind that AEY was headed by a guy who'd been busted by the police for carrying a fake ID.):

Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans

By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: March 27, 2008

This article was reported by C. J. Chivers, Eric Schmitt and Nicholas Wood and written by Mr. Chivers.

...........

Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.

With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.

Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.

In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.

Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law. The company’s president, Efraim E. Diveroli, was also secretly recorded in a conversation that suggested corruption in his company’s purchase of more than 100 million aging rounds in Albania, according to audio files of the conversation.

..........

This is so sick! Typical "oversight" by our so called Bushatticks! Disgusting!!!

:rant:

[hobbit709]

1. Wonder how large his donations to the GOP were.

[1776Forever]

3. Good one - someone had to be "in" on this one I would think!

This stinks to high heaven!!!

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

5. and how much the kick-back will be.

[seemslikeadream]

2. .

[Ordr]

4. Quite the young entrepreneur.

Yuck.

[Xithras]

6. I was going to say: 22? Good for him! But then I read the article.

There is nothing wrong with youthful entrepreneurism, but this guy is a shady jerk. Hope he gets prosecuted.

[1776Forever]

7. How many more of this type of cheat are out there? We may not know until a new President is in!

:banghead:

[progressoid]

8. Capitalism rules!!

Oh....never mind.

[Solly Mack]

9. This is just screaming

"...the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking"

[1776Forever]

11. Oh yeah - it goes on to say that this "kid" at 19 sold guns to our troops in Iraq!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27ammo.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

"By 2005, when Mr. Diveroli became AEY’s president at age 19, the company was bidding across a spectrum of government agencies and providing paramilitary equipment — weapons, helmets, ballistic vests, bomb suits, batteries and chargers for X-ray machines — for American aid to Pakistan, Bolivia and elsewhere.

It was also providing supplies to the American military in Iraq, where its business included a $5.7 million contract for rifles for Iraqi forces.

Two federal officials involved in contracting in Baghdad said AEY quickly developed a bad reputation. “They weren’t reliable, or if they did come through, they did after many excuses,” said one of them, who asked that his name be withheld because he was not authorized to speak with reporters."

[Solly Mack]

12. Disgusting

Apparently there's a mugshot of him floating about

here:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/todays_must_read_304.php

[Solly Mack]

13. His father's business

Worldwide Tactical LLC

and here's a govt. contract for Louisiana for Worldwide Tactical

https://ecat.doa.louisiana.gov/ecat/external/externalContractDetail.sdo?docId=406550

Seems the family is not only in the defense contract business...but emergency management as well

and AEY, Inc is listed as a "Ret Misc General Merchandise Whol Scrap/Waste Material"

http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_gdvcjw

[1776Forever]

14. Sounds like something 60 Minutes should look into.........

Probably a BIG Bush supporter for sure!

[notadmblnd]

10. appears he's been a busy young man.

I found a complaint against him in regards to not delivering his goods This guy Jason is complaining that Botach Tactical of LA is ripping him off.

Here's a post from the site.


I believe that dealers of guns (in general) and machineguns (in specific), should be held to a high standard of ethics, legality and accountability in how they conduct their business. By these standards, even Botach’s friends must admit that he is a terrible failure. Following, is a chronological account of my interactions with Botach Tactical and BK Botach. I HAVE PHYSICAL COPIES OF ALL DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING CHECKS, ORDERS, LETTERS, NOTES AND E-MAILS TO SUBSTANTIATE MY CLAIMS. These copies have been presented to BK Botach as evidence (By whom they were ignored) as well as to all agencies and entities to which complaints regarding this matter have been referred. Thank you for your valuable time and attention. Sincerely, Jason B 9190 E. Kayenta Dr. Tucson, AZ 85749-8647   CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS *************** Early May, 2003: I began to look for a sample Fabrique Nationale (FN) machinegun on behalf of a New Mexico town marshal’s office. They wished to see a demonstration of this weapon to evaluate it for possible purchase. I contacted several FN dealers over the next few weeks to inquire about pricing and availability. Week of 05/19/2003: I contacted Botach Tactical and spoke to Ephraim Diveroli, one of their sales associates. He quoted me a price on the sample I wanted, plus proposed a deal whereby I could demo two additional guns to the same department for no charge, as long as the additional samples were returned when the demo was complete. This was an attempt for him to generate additional sales for Botach, who would of course sell the additional guns, if the demonstration was favorably received. I decided to purchase from Botach Tactical because of their price and because of the fact that I had ordered from them before (5 Post ’86 Sample Galil machineguns about 2-3 years earlier) with no problems. Week of 05/26/2003: I contacted the Town Marshal in New Mexico and explained the process for the demonstrations. He wrote a Demonstration Request Letter (DRL) and forwarded it to me. 06/10/2003: I submitted via US Mail a formal order to Botach for the samples I discussed with Ephraim (As above), along with the DRL and a cashier’s check in the amount of $2,728.75 as a 50% down payment. The balance would be due when the order was ready to ship. (UPDATE: Since my payment was sent via US Mail, some of Botach’s subsequent activities meet the technical definition of Mail Fraud. This fact was noted and I ultimately filed a complaint with the US Postal Service.) 06/13/2003: I received an E-mail from Ephraim stating that my order was received and had been forwarded to FN for fulfillment. 06/16/2003: My certified check was cashed and deposited to the account of “BOTACH TACTICAL, a dba of BARKOCHBA BOTACH.” Here there is a long stretch of time where I heard nothing concerning my order. This was not unexpected as Ephraim told me that FN had a production backlog and because the NFA paperwork for machineguns always takes a long time. I did speak to Ephraim once or twice during this time via telephone regarding other matters, such as current sales and promotions offered by Botach, etc. Week of 10/06/2003: Ephraim contacted me via telephone and told me that FN required some additional documentation in order to process my order. He outlined these requirements and told me where to send the information. 10/15/2003: I forwarded the additional documentation and letters that Ephraim requested to Tausha Carter at FNH USA, Inc., the USA manufacturing subsidiary of FN. Week of 11/10/2003: Ephraim called me and told me that my order should be ready for shipment in approximately 6-8 weeks. Here several more months pass with no contact and no news at all. Toward the end of this period, I am becoming increasingly concerned about the status of my order. 05/2004 – Early 06/2004: I send several E-mails to both BK and Ephraim, asking for a status on my order. With the utter lack of response, the tone of my messages eventually shifts from “When will my order ship?” to “I need a refund ASAP.” None of these messages are returned. (UPDATE: I would later learn that Ephraim was no longer working for Botach by this time. I was never contacted or informed of this fact by either BK or Ephraim, despite my many messages.) 06/15/2004: I sent another E-mail to both Ephraim and BK inquiring about the status of my order. This time, I attached a copy of my order and my check to jog their collective memory and speed their response. This E-mail, like the others, gets no response from either of them. 06/16/2004: I finally managed to contact BK via telephone. He claimed that my E-mail of 6/15/04 (Which he apparently read but did not respond to) was the first time he ever heard of my order and that “Ephraim no longer has an association with and he made all kinds of these deals, so you will have to talk to him.” (Why BK would read the E-mail, see that there was a problem or misunderstanding of some sort, and yet never think to call or E-mail me back, even if only to explain the situation, is completely beyond my understanding.) He then gave me Ephraim Diveroli’s new phone number. This was the first concrete indication I had that there was a serious problem with my order, and that the very real possibility existed that I would not get the product or my money. Why I needed to contact Ephraim at this point was unclear to me, and BK did not adequately explain it. I assumed that he wanted me to contact Ephraim for some kind of confirmation only, as such a call would otherwise make no sense: After all, Botach cashed my check, so why would I expect an ex-employee to issue me a refund or solve my complaint—something which only Botach could accomplish? I would soon come to believe that this was the first step in BK trying to shift the blame for the situation, and its subsequent resolution, onto someone else’s doorstep. Regardless, I contacted Ephraim on the phone as BK requested. Ephraim was surprised to hear from me.

much more at link

http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/july/14/21.htm

[LeftinOH]

15. This kid looks like a bad-ass:

He's of the Albanian emigre community.. and appears to have a brilliant mafia career ahead of him.

[1776Forever]

16. Ah - that is how his Dad got his contract as a "Minority" - I was wondering about that.

:hide:

[sergeiAK]

17. A lot of this stuff has happened before

mostly to civilian buyers of mil-surplus arms/ammo. The players were different, but the modus operandi the same.

Corruption in East Bloc militaries? Never!

Aging ammo being unloaded on unsuspecting customers? Nah, they're too honest for that. Such things could never happen, all that unreliable stuff was supposed to only be sold as scrap metal.

Chinese ammo being remarked/reboxed so it could be imported? Yep, happened (of all places) in Albania.

[maddezmom]

18. Committee Announces Hearing on Arms Contract

Committee Announces Hearing on Arms Contract
Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced that the Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, April 17, 2008, to examine federal contracts awarded to AEY Inc. to supply weapons, ammunitions, and munitions to military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the New York Times, AEY was awarded a contract worth nearly $300 million, but provided defective, unreliable ammunition, including shipments of Chinese ammunition, to Afghanistan army and police forces. The hearing will examine the company’s financial history, past performance, and compliance with U.S. law and government contracting regulations as well as the federal government’s efforts to investigate allegations that AEY may have violated U.S. law and government contracting regulations.

The following individuals are invited to testify:




Efraim E. Diveroli, President, AEY Inc.
David M. Packouz, Vice President, AEY Inc.
Levi Meyer, General Manager, AEY Inc.
Senior Official, Department of Defense
Senior Official, Department of State

more:http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1828

[1776Forever]

19. Very nice - I am going to be watching that for sure! Thank you for the heads up!!

:patriot: At least they can find out how this stuff happened and hopefully stop it before it goes further!

[Octafish]

20. Money Trumps Peace

-- George W. Bush, Feb. 14, 2007

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x250447