In their newest case against the already-convicted 20-something Miami arms dealer Efraim Diveroli, the feds accused him this week of using a front company to hide his continuing involvement in the arms trade. But a closer look at Diveroli’s recent dealings suggest that, even as he was awaiting sentencing on his initial conviction for selling the U.S. government poor-quality and illegal munitions for use in Afghanistan, Diveroli engaged in a series of transactions designed to obscure his involvement in companies involved in the arms business.
AEY, Inc., the business that Diveroli used a few years back to sell the U.S. Army out-of-date Eastern European munitions, is still around and is run out of Diveroli’s upscale home in Miami Beach.
A second company named in the charges is also headquartered at Diveroli’s home address: Pinnacle Minerals Corporation is a “mining company,” according to the charges, which was created in September 2008. Diveroli was the company’s registered agent until March, when the company changed its registered agent to lawyer Marko Cerenko of Miami Beach, according to the company’s corporate filings in Florida. Cerenko, shown here aboard a boat, previously served as an attorney at AEY, Inc., according to his LinkedIn profile. The former Duke tennis player and University of Miami School of Law grad did not return multiple phone calls from TPMMuckraker on his cell phone or at his law firm, Hogan Greer & Shapiro.
The feds allege they have Diveroli on tape talking to a federal agent about his involvement in Pinnacle. Diveroli allegedly told the feds that “Aaron Monahan,” one of the individuals also mentioned in the charges, is an employee of Pinnacle, who along with “Jake” served as the point of contact for the ammunition deal with Advanced Munitions.
According to what Diveroli allegedly told the feds, his partner at Pinnacle owns Advanced Munitions, another company that figures prominently in the charges. That appears to be a reference to Diveroli pal Dejan Djuric, who is president, vice president and secretary of Pinnacle, according to Florida corporation records.
Identified only by his initials, “D.D.” in the court filings against Diveroli, Djuric plays a prominent role in the latest charges. Djuric allegedly set up a new company late last month called Advanced Munitions Distribution, Inc. Djuric is also listed as president of that company, according to Florida corporation records. Diveroli himself is not listed in the public filings of the corporation, but the feds allege that Advanced Munitions Distribution is a “front company” designed to conceal Diveroli’s arms trading. Diveroli allegedly told an undercover officer of Advanced Munitions that he “finances their inventory” sometimes.
Diveroli allegedly told an undercover ATF officer in early August that Djuric’s business, Advanced Munitions, bought another of his companies, AmmoWorks, a week earlier. Diveroli said it wasn’t beneficial to Advanced Munitions to have his name associated with it, so he would remain on board as a consultant and would get an exclusive consulting contract, the feds allege.
It’s not yet clear if any of Diveroli’s associates — including Djuric or two others referred to in the federal complaint as “Jake” and “Aaron Monahan” — will be charged in relation to the broader conspiracy revealed in the affidavit, but the feds indicate that there’s a larger criminal case at stake.
“More details will be coming out in the future,” Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office told Florida Today. “Obviously he had some links in Brevard County.”
Djuric, who is also listed in Florida corporation records as president of Balkan Export, Inc., hung up when reached by phone by a TPM reporter and did not return a subsequent voicemail message.
As the feds zero back in on Diveroli, a quick refresher on his background that might help explain how a 24-year-old ends up as an arms dealer He took over AEY, Inc., from his father Michael Diveroli around 2004 or 2005 when he was 19 years old. His grandfather, Yoav Botach, is one of the wealthiest property owners in Los Angeles and may have a net worth of up to $700 million. His uncle, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, is a former spiritual adviser to Michael Jackson, the host of a popular satellite radio program and author of the books The Kosher Sutra and Kosher Sex.
And another uncle, Bar-Kochba Botach, runs a South Central Los Angeles arms firm run called Botach Tactical that a story in L.A. Weekly earlier this month linked to AEY, Inc. through a 2004 federal contract that listed one of Diveroli’s AEY addresses in Miami Beach as the mailing address for Botach Tactical.
As a teen, Diveroli spent summers working for Botach Tactical, according to his grandfather’s common-law wife, Judith Boteach, who has a palimony suit pending against the family patriarch, told L.A. Weekly.
Cynthia Hawkins, the Orlando lawyer representing Diveroli in the criminal case, did not return TPM’s phone calls.
