22-Year-Old Arms Dealer Arrested in Miami

By Chris Nolan . Posted June 20, 2008.

Talking Points Memo Muckraker notes that 22-year-old arms dealer Efraim Diveroli has been arrested by federal authorities in Miami:

A 22-year-old munitions dealer and others in his Miami Beach company were arrested on charges of selling prohibited Chinese weaponry to the U.S. government to supply allied forces in Afghanistan, according to law enforcement officials.

Efraim Diveroli, president of AEY Inc., and three other employees were arrested Thursday night and Friday morning -- accused of conspiring to misrepresent the types of munitions they sold to the U.S. Department of Defense as part of a $300 million Army weapons contract, officials said.

Diveroli and the others are charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act stemming from an investigation that began earlier this year by the Pentagon and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Diveroli's attorney, Hy Shapiro, could not be immediately reached for comment. The U.S. attorney's office and ICE in Miami declined to comment. Diveroli and the other defendants are expected to have their first appearances in federal court in Miami Friday afternoon. [Miami Herald]

Let's hope the feds dig deeper than Diveroli who appears to have been helped along in the arms business by extensive family credentials in the arms trade.

See more stories tagged with: botach, diveroli, pentagon, afghanistan

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.

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