Botach Tactical and AEY Inc., family arms dealerships

How did an unknown firm with a 22-year-old president secure US defense contracts worth over $300 million?

AEY, Inc. won, and subsequently lost a multi-million dollar contract to supply ammunition to Afghanistan, The New York Times reported on Thurdsay. The firm's president, 22-year-old Efraim Diveroli, is scheduled to testify before Congress in April.

Efraim Diveroli probably didn't land those contracts all by himself, public records show.

Efraim's dad, Michael Diveroli, told the media that he had nothing to do with his son's arms trading.

"I would prefer he became a nice Jewish doctor or lawyer rather than an arms dealer. He's never asked for my approval on the company. He doesn't always take my advice, I don't influence him. As a father of a boy genius he's hard to control," Michael Diveroli told WFOR-TV.

That's hard to believe. Fedvendor.com lists Michael Diveroli as AEY's sales manager and its government business contact. The elder Diveroli incorporated AEY in 1999 and installed his son as president in 2005. Michael Diveroli also has two businesses of his own that get government contracts for police equipment and office supplies.

The House Oversight Committee will hold hearings on April 17th to investigate AEY's history, past performance, and compliance with US and contracting law. Efraim Diveroli, AEY vice president David Packouz, and AEY general manager Levi Meyer have been invited to testify, along with senior officials from the Departments of State and Defense. Neither Michael Diveroli nor his arms dealing brother-in-law, BK Botach, is scheduled to testify.

Efraim Diveroli's uncle Bar Kochba Botach is in the weapons business. According to the New York Times, Efraim Diveroli worked for his uncle BK at Botach Tactical, a purveyor of police and military supplies, headquartered in Los Angeles: 

The younger Diveroli’s munitions experience appeared to be limited to a short-lived job in Los Angeles for Botach Tactical, a military and police supply company owned by his uncle, Bar-Kochba Botach.

Mr. Diveroli cut off an interview when asked about Botach Tactical. Mr. Botach, reached by telephone, said that both Michael and Efraim Diveroli had briefly worked for him, but that after seeing the rush of federal contracts available after the wars began, they had struck out on their own.

“They just left me and took my customer base with them,” he said. “They basically said: ‘Why should we work for Botach? Let’s do it on our own.’ ” [NYT]

Botach Tactical is part of Botach Defense Group. (BDG coupon codes available here.)

At left, you'll see the Botach Defense/Botach Tactical logo, a red Star of David and a sword, emanating lighting bolts. 

Botach Tactical's website sells everything from boots and "tactical undergear" to handcuffs to tomahawks to pocket search mirrors.   

Botach Tactical doesn't advertise guns or explosives on its Yahoo-hosted website, but they will sell you plastic training guns and real magazines. Body bags, too. (Before you whip out your credit cards, be advised that Botach seems to have a lot of  bitterly dissatisfied customers.)

In 2005 Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Ca) and some of her constituents confronted Botach at his at unmarked establishment at 3423 W. 43rd Place in Los Angeles. Local residents and city officials became concerned when they found out that Botach had quietly converted a former pawn shop into a gun dealership 12 years earlier. Botach has many other business interests in California, including Botach Management, also at 3423 W. 43rd Place, and a cold storage warehouse around the corner from his tactical store/gun dealership/property management company.

Kley Zion is Botach Tactical's sister firm. Arguably, Kley Zion and Botach Tactical are the same company. According to the masthead on its homepage Kley Zion is "Your Professional Specialist Serving the World[:] Law Enforcement - Military - Public Safety Special Operations - Corporate Security."

Botach and Kley Zion not only share quarters at 43rd Place in Los Angeles, they also have the same federal tax ID number, the same DUNS number, and the same GSA contracting number, according to their respective websites. The klezion.com domain is registered to Bar Kochba Botach. The fictitious business name "Botach Tactical Kley Zion" was filed at the Los Angeles County Recorders office in 2006. "Botach Tactical" is a separate fictitious name for a California partnership between BK and Schlomo Botach.

According to their respective websites, both Botach Tactical and Kley Zion are pre-approved to supply goods to the federal government, including the GSA and the Defense Department. However, only Botach appears to have been awarded federal contracts.

Over the past 8 years, Botach Tactical amassed federal contracts worth over $10.8 million.   

Botach sells various weapons and ammunition to a handful of federal clients, but these products account for a relatively small share of the company's business with the federal government. Botach makes most of its federal money by filling large numbers  of small orders for products classified as "individual equipment," including specialty clothing, boots, and headsets. They also do a brisk business in night vision goggles and other optical equipment.

On Fedvendor.com, Botach Tactical has two profiles. One of them lists physical and mailing addresses in California. The other says that Botach Tactical's mailing address is the same Miami Beach address as AEY, down to the suite number:

925 41ST. SUITE 306 MIAMI BEACH, Florida 33140-3339 3423 W 43RD PLACE LOS ANGELES, California 90008, USA Tel: 305-534-0777 Fax: 305-534-1297 Contact

Information: Michael Diveroli 3423 W 43RD PLACE LOS ANGELES, California 90008, USA Tel: 305-534-0777 Fax: 305-534-1297

Note that Botach's contact person is Michael Diveroli, Efraim's father. Michael Diveroli's stated address, above, is Botach Tactical's LA headquarters. One old company profile I found on Lexis-Nexis lists Michael Diveroli as the owner of Botach Tactical, probably incorrectly.   

The Miami Beach address also shows up on a handful of Botach contracts awarded between 1999 and 2004--as the only address. These contracts also specify that the work will be performed in Florida. So, it appears that Botach Tactical had a significant presence in Florida for several years.

There's no indication that BK Botach had anything to do with the ammunition contract that got AEY in trouble.

The media are captivated by the idea that a boy genius and his twenty-something buddies cooked up a $300 million arms deal. No doubt, Efraim has a very impressive CV for an arms dealer his age. (He was allegedly caught on tape negotiating with Albanian officials.) Yet, the record suggests that members of Efraim's family probably had a much greater role in this enterprise than they're letting on. At the very least, family connections help explain Efraim's extraordinary success in securing contracts.

Now that Efraim has left the country, the Michael Diveroli appears to be shifting the blame to his absent son.

Comments

[DefJef]

Left the country? Is he testifying or not?

These zionist crooks are being exposed ripping off the taxpayers and feeding a war against their perceived enemies Iraq and Iran.

This is pretty obvious, isn't it?

Why won't any say it?

I forgot - anti semitism protects them from that one

[Cass]

"Left the country? Is he testifying or not?"

Draw your own conclusions.

"This is pretty obvious, isn't it?"

That our government buys shoddy equipment at exorbitant prices from sleazy, politically-connected contractors? Why, yes, that is pretty obvious.

"Why won't any say it?"

Say what?

"I forgot - anti semitism protects them from that one"

Who is "them"? And what is "that one"? And whom does "anti semitism" protect from anything? You're really not being very clear, brother.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Let's not even go there. These guys are accused of bilking the government and possibly endangering our Afghan allies with bad ammunition.

There's no reason to think that religion or ethnicity has anything to do with this. When Bechtel or KBR or Blackwater rips off the American taxpayer, nobody attributes their bad behavior to ethnicity or religion. Nor should we. There are greedy, unscrupulous people in every group.

No subpoenas have been issued for the Congressional hearings, AFAIK. But I were Efraim, I wouldn't rush back to the USA to enlighten Congress, unless my lawyers worked out a very good deal with the federal authorities first.

[Cass]

I'm sorry, Lindsay; I should've given that response of mine a little more thought.

[DefJef]

It is my belief that pro Israelis, ie anti Arabs are deeply involved in the "war on teror" and see it as a blessing with multiple benefits for Israel and for them to make money while killing the enemy - a double whammy! What a mitzvah!

Of course, as soon as one mentions such a motive or scheme, your are branded anti semitic and the discussion is moved to just plain only greed.

This is zealotry and it looks like there is a religious component to it.

There were reports, true or false, that Mossad agents where observed saying after the Towers fell, that now America will be actively fighting with the Israelis against the arabs now. Now that they see what terrorism is like. A cynical person could deduce that Mossad or rougue mossad might have been involved in 911. There is motive.

I don't think looking into those motives is unreasonable. Just look at the logos illustrated here. Do they tell you anything? Anything at all? OH I know, that these guys are greedy.

[mitchell porter]

Actually, I find it believable that a sufficiently enterprising 22-year-old, with a family background in the small arms trade, could bootstrap his way to becoming an international arms dealer. Consider this story, where an "anarchist comedian" with a TV show goes shopping for Heckler & Koch submachine guns, ostensibly as a representative of a country under an EU arms embargo. The Swiss arms dealer who says they could be obtained via Finland, Heinrich Thomet, was AEY's middleman in Albania. But Thomet is also "Heckler & Koch's official Swiss agent". So it's that easy for an unknown with a front company to get advice from a reputable industry name on how to bend the rules. Now imagine being in your early twenties, living and breathing such deals, and using all the resources of the globalized world to make them happen.

[mitchell porter]

"[Efraim Diveroli] was allegedly caught on tape negotiating with Albanian officials."

Transcript and link to Youtube! And here's more from the Albanian side.

[cfrost]

A cynical person could deduce that Mossad or rougue mossad might have been involved in 911.

I’d rate myself as pretty cynical, but tomahawk wielding, tactical t-shirted, jihadist, rogue Mossad agents knocking down the twin towers? Nah.

But wait a second though. . . Rouged Mossad agents. . . You might be on to something. . . Arab men sometimes use kohl eyeliner. Mohammed Atta’s pictures indicate he might have used a little kohl. Botach Tactical sells camo face paint. It’s all coming together: Rogue, rouged, Mossad agents wearing sexy, spandex tactical undergear and Zionist beauty products in cahoots with kohl-crazed bin Laden and Jewish cosmetic tycoons did 9/11!

[R. Mildred]

It is my belief that pro Israelis, ie anti Arabs are deeply involved in the "war on teror" and see it as a blessing with multiple benefits for Israel and for them to make money while killing the enemy - a double whammy! What a mitzvah!

Not really, Israel is now surrounded by complete psychopaths who's ability to maintain their despotic regimes is reliant on their ability to demonize jews and israelis in that thoroughly western style that led to the holocaust (and the thousand or so years of pogroms that preceded the holocaust but no one cares about those. Complete psychopaths who are funded and maintained by western military backing and arms dealing.

On the flipside, Israel itself is reliant on western imperialism to keep those psychopaths in check AND to maintain it's military industrial complex - which means that Israel HAS to be as big a bastard as it is to maintain its existence, as part of the faustian pact the hardcore zionists made with the very harcore anti-semites who'd made a remarkably similar pact with Nazi germany and imperial japan before ww2.

And you don't even have to bring in the nazis or japan for an example of an old dependant nation that did something to piss off western business interests and got smushed into the ground as a result - apart from botched attempts at that sort of thing in places like cuba and venezuela, you've also got Iran and Iraq, both of which were at one point or another puppet regimes for america, both of which tried to gain a teeny tiny amount of independence from american business interests, both of which then got promptly coup'd by the CIA and thier govenrments replaced by people who were more friendly to american and european interests.

Now remember that the original post-war american/british backed iraqi government saw the first ever true pogroms against jewish iraqis (after the zionist underground blew some shit up obviously), and that HAMAS and Hezbullah have both been recipients of american support in the past, and remember that nukes aren't worth much against a CIA backed coup d'etat (and israel's government is not THAT stable, any more than any other government run by a borderline theocratic puppet regime ever are), and you have a situation only a complete idiot would stick the majority of the world's jews into suhc a dangerous situation and mark THAT up as a win for judaism.

The people running Israel and Mossad are either complete idiots (which is my guess, considering the hardcore zionists have been getting more and more hostile towards other jews in the past decade or so) or very aware of the position they are in (Mossad), and how they could jepodize the continued existence of the entire hebrew race very easily if they don't play the Good Jew act properly, and if you think for a second that Teh Jews have a serious amount of control over their actions in the middle east, then I'd suggest you actually go hit some history books on Israel, emphasis on the suez canal crisis and similar.

There's no reason to think that religion or ethnicity has anything to do with this.

Actually their interesting symbology and company names is probably an attempt to cash in on Israel and IMI's quite excellent reputation for international arms and security dealings, so it's got something vaguely to do with their ethnicity, but really it's got more to do with brand recognition than anything else.

Though of course if I was being cynical I'd point out that if Diveroli Sr's business model was based around fobbing off crappy american goods in place of well made israeli weapondry he was promising to sell people, then I could see Diveroli Sr running out of rubes to pull his nigerian email scam on.

In which case the sensible thing for him to do would be to set up a different company, stick a figure head with a different, but recognizable, name at the helm, some fancy schmancy logos that continue the fake "Srs Israeli bizness" theme, and to then just start the scam all over again with the same client list before retiring.

The yiddish term for these sorts of people is "funfar" btw.

[SanderO]

Michael,

You might want to do some reading about the bombing of the Bologna train station which was pinned on the Brigadi Rossi - Red Brigades and far left group in Italy.

After decades the truth was revealed that this group was infiltrated SISMI (not even rougue SISMI) who provided the explosives and participated in the plot which killed scores of people. Their strategy was to force a crackdown on the Red Brigades and sweep up anyone associated with them and crush the left.

False Flag operations are a strategy of the state (USA) and others.

The USS Liberty was attacked by Israeli planes in 1967 and many believe that it was going to be the "excuse" for a possible US entry into the 67 war.

Gulf of Tonkin was a fabrication which was used for the USA escalation of the Vietnam War.

The Battleship Maine was also sunk in 1898 and was the "excuse" the the Spanish American war.

911 may have been a false flag event. The jury is still out as far as I am concerned and one needs to examine who might benefit from that attack for motive.

[The Phantom]

--911 may have been a false flag event. The jury is still out as far as I am concerned and one needs to examine who might benefit from that attack for motive.--

I encounter your "Truther" friends in lower Manhattan from time to time. They make for a sad and creepy sight. Its terribly disrespectful that they choose to loiter on Church Street, between Vesey and Liberty, on the anniversaries.

This past September 11, a group of Truthers in black shirts stood in formation, glaring at the passengers emerging up to street level from the PATH train station.

Friends and relatives of the departed were there in tribute, and this is what these people chose to do.

I won't talk facts to SanderO, because people who spout things like that are not interested in facts.

I remember having a conversation once on the street with a proponent of the "controlled demolition" theory. I asked him why he thought that, and what his sources were, and for some specifics. I worked in Two World Trade Center for the five years preceding 9/11. How could I have missed such a large wiring? (Wiring explosives for a much smaller building takes a lot of time and effort)

I didn't get an answer. Because there never is an answer for these things.

"Who benefits" is a necessary question at the beginning of an investigation. It has no place when making final conclusions.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Everyone: Let's keep this discussion focused on the specific case.

If it doesn't directly pertain to the Diverolis, AEY, or Botach Tactical, please take it somewhere else.

[mudkitty]

Why be so shocked when we run into crony capitalism. It's the "invisible hand."

[Andrew]

Lindsay, I think DefJef's remarks were ill-considered, as was subsequently acknowledged, but there's a little bit of a difference between a family arms dealing business and a global corporation, no? Not to imply that religion or ethnicity has anything to do with their motivations, but it is curious that this particular arms dealer is not just Jewish, but Israeli.

One begins to wonder where this clan's fortune came from. Certainly provides fodder for interesting speculation. I'd be interested to know what would turn up if we followed the money to identify where the original capital for the businesses came from and how they acquired their wealth in the first place. Legitimate? Illegal? Provided by a foreign intelligence service?

[americangoy]

My gawt:

Lindsay I love you. I really really do.
I stole a lot of your stuff here and put it on my blog.

There is some stuff on the web claiming that the wonderful Diveroli family (uncle and all) are heavily into ecstasy and weapons deals.... heavily tied into the Israeli Mob... Seems like that fits, when looked at the facts.

The interesting fact is that the 22 year old is blamed for all of this, he of course leaves to another country (cough Israel cough), and now no one is to blame.

Meanwhile the $300 million is gone, the Afghan Army has ammunition more dangerous to themselves than to their enemy, and nary a peep about any US government officials who AUTHORIZED this deal.

I won't hold my breath waiting for any to be exposed... nor for Mr. Efraim to come back from his Mediterranean (well earned by all accounts) vacation...

I bow my hats off to the Israel mob - such connections, such deals... incredible!

[Steve Sailer]

By the way, AEY, Botach Tactical, and Michael Diveroli's Worldwide Tactical are all listed in federal contracting databases as "disadvantaged" and/or "minority owned," so they are eligible for affirmative action preferences.

[Dennis H.]

There's no reason to think that religion or ethnicity has anything to do with this.

While I have no use for Mr. Sailer's ideology, if his research is correct, the Diverolis exploited a negligible connection to a Hasidic sect in order to be considered eligible for a federal set aside program targeting Hasidim.

The fact that doing doing business with the Diverolis enabled the government to claim it had provided $300 million in contracts to "minority owned businesses" might be significant.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

AEY didn't represent itself as minority-owned for the purposes of the massive ammo contracts. Sometimes they show up as "small disadvantaged business" on the actual contracts--but that's not the same thing.

Botach didn't present itself as a minority-owned or SDB on any of the contracts I looked at.

Here's some data from the latest payout on AEY's massive ammo contract:

Number of Employees 2
Annual Revenue $2,000,000
Small Business Yes
8A Firm No
Hist. Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Firm No
Small Disadvantaged Business Yes
Sheltered Workshop (JWOD Provider) No
Historically Black College or University No
Educational Institution No
Woman Owned Business No
Veteran Owned Business No
Service Disabled Veteran Owned Firm No
Local Government No
Minority Institution No
American Indian Owned Business No
State Government No
Federal Government No
Minority Owned Business No
Asian-Pacific American Owned Business No
Tribal Government No
Black American Owned Business No
Native American Owned Business No
Subcontinent Asian (Asian-Indian) American Owned Business No
Nonprofit Organization No
Hispanic American Owned Business No
Emerging Small Business No
Hospital No

For the purposes of federal contracting, small disadvantaged businesses are small businesses owned by "socially or economically disadvantaged" people--it's not a racial, ethnic, or religious classification.

When it comes to the paperwork, these guys are all over the map in terms of their revenue, how many employees they have, whether they're a small business, where they're located. I'm sure Congress will find all kinds of incongruities when they take a hard look at the documents. These were not what you'd call by-the-book operations.

Whatever marketing claims Botach and AEY may have made in their profiles, there's no evidence that AEY or Botach benefited significantly from affirmative action in federal contracting.

[Ben M]

Regarding "how did the 22 year old get into this". The case reminded me of my jury duty trial: we heard a civil suit where the plaintiff was a family-owned car dealership. It was pretty obvious throughout the trial that this dealership had been built up by Dad; Dad had established all of the major relationships, he knew all of the clients and suppliers and contractors, he had all of the basic business insights. But when Only Child finished his MBA, he was installed in the front office and declared to be in charge. Of course, his "independent" management style seemed to consist of "repeat whatever Dad did"---just hitting re-dial on Dad's old rolodex, signing new versions of the same deals, hiring the same subcontractors, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if Botach and AEY turn out to be the same thing. Efraim picked up Michael's list of suppliers, drew up a new letterhead, and stepped through Michael's dog-eared copy of "Shell Corporations For Dummies". He prints out one of Michael's standard lowball bids on his new letterhead, makes two or three phone calls, and his job is finished. All of those old wheels were set in motion: win bid for contract, call shady supplier, bargain them down, tell them where to deliver.

[robertsgt40]

All roads lead to Israel

[Theo]

We all keep hearing 'We are at war' to justify many things. That being the case when contracters defraud the US government during time of war they should be tried for treason period. If the Patriot Act is good for busting meth dealers and 'corrupt' governors why do all these contracters get a pass or at worst a slap on the wrist. Are not their actions DIRECTLY endangering American lives?

[Jack P]

More zionist crimes (along with the Wars). Only Israel benefits from these endless Middle East wars. Iraq is the beginning. As we commit war-crimes in Baghdad, the US gov't commits treason at home by opening mail, eliminating habeas corpus, using the judiciary to steal private lands, banning books like America Deceived (book) from Amazon and Wikipedia, conducting warrantless wiretaps and engaging in illegal wars on behalf of AIPAC's 'money-men'. Soon, another US false-flag operation will occur (sinking of an Aircraft Carrier by Mossad) and the US will invade Iran.. Then we'll invade Syria, then Saudi Arabia, then Lebanon (again) then ....