U.S. Army Suspends Afghan Ammo Supplier

Miami Beach Firm Reportedly Delivered Chinese Ammunition To Afghan Army

(AP)  The Army has suspended a Miami Beach company from government contract work for reportedly providing Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghanistan army, in violation of its contract and U.S. law.

AEY Inc., a firm with just eight employees, is under criminal investigation for reportedly claiming that the munitions were made in Hungary, according to documents obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there have been no reports that the ammunition was unsafe or failed to work properly. But he says some of it may not have been used because of concerns that it was not packaged well.

In a letter Tuesday, the Army told company owner Efraim Diveroli that the investigation could lead to AEY being barred from any U.S. government work.

Diveroli's attorney, Hy Shapiro, said Thursday he had not seen the Army's letter yet and declined further comment until he had. No one answered the door at the Miami Beach apartment listed as Diveroli's in Florida state records.

According to an Army Legal Services memo, AEY began contracting for the Defense and State departments in 2004, and to date has been awarded more than 150 contracts, worth in excess of $200 million.

The key contract was awarded in 2007, and was for various types of ammunition for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. It included bullets for machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and pistols.

After questions arose about the origin of the munitions, U.S. Army investigators in January reviewed shipments at an Afghan Army weapons depot. Stamps on munitions in 14 containers showed that the ammunition was manufactured in factories in China, the memo said.

According to the contract, based on federal law, companies doing business with the U.S. government cannot buy any munitions directly or indirectly from a Chinese military company, or any entity that is part of China's defense industrial base.

The ammunition problems were first reported by The New York Times.

[prinzowhales]

Just your everyday piece of Israel-first feces stealing America blind. When they aren''t covering up for the murder of US servicemen murdered by Israel on the USS LIBERTY, they are busy defrauding a government fighting a war they support.

[forthepeopl1]

His comments came as the president paid a quick visit to a nonprofit debt counseling center in Freehold, N.J. to refute exactly that sort of criticism and argue his administration has acted effectively.

The administration''''s moves over the past about six months include expanding the Federal Housing Administration''''s ability to offer refinancing to homeowners with good credit, allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up more home loans, and brokering help for struggling homeowners through a private-sector mortgage industry group. That group has agreed to offer a five-year rate freeze for people who have not missed payments or a 30-day foreclosure pause for those who fall behind.


"There are some homeowners who have made responsible buying decisions and who could keep their homes with just a little help," he said. SO WHY DID YOU BAIL OUT YOUR FREINDS ON WALL STREET. MR PIN HEAD

The president has come out strongly against the Democrats'''' housing package, warning that an overzealous governmental response to the nation''''s housing woes could hurt the economy''''s ability to recover long-term."We have a role to play at the government level, and that is to help lenders avoid foreclosure," he said. THE STOCK MARLET IS MORE IMPORTANT THEN A FEW MILLION AMERICANS LOSING THEIR HOMES.. "The housing market problems are complicated and there''''s no easy solutions. But ... we will help responsible homeowners weather a difficult period."

[quetzal0666]

the Guy is Jewis, what did u expect?

[donevis-2009]

It has come to light that the company owner Efraim Diveroli is a 22 year old. The munitions were old surplus that us tax payers paid millions to have destroyed. How did he manage to acquire this pile of stuff and who orchestrated the 300 million dollar deal with our government? We need answers to this bunch of BS, but I''m sure we won''t get them. Just like every other investigation it''ll be buired. "God Speed USA"

[macusweil]

Sure the 22 year old kid was probably son of some Bush crony, ex college room mate or donated heavy to the RNC. We are losing the war on terror, the surge is failing in Iraq, the economy is being taken out on a stretcher by the Fed.

The Republican "culture of corruption" has established a unprecedented record of failure for our nation.

[walt1944-2009]

Once again, another "independant contractor" has been discovered to be violating the law by providing bullets to the government that were made in China instead of "better-made" bullets made in Hungary!

Apparently, ammunition makers have all left the US(SA) to allow for cheaper made bullets made overseas. Perhaps the reasons were that bullet makers here have simply forgotten how to make bullets but it is suspected that the reasons are, like anything else, PROFITS!

It is, therefore, not surprising that the US(SA) military is unable to function with independant contractors like Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, and now AEY, providing goods and services that either do not work or will kill our own military through food poisoning.

And we have the Great Emperor Bush II and John "The Great Pretender" McCain, claiming that more government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, should also be "privatized"! What a nightmare that would turn out to be FOR ALL OF US!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil (more of the same), McCain????

[stn_sage]

OH, GREAT! An American company supplying ''made in China'' ammo to the Afghan army?!

This begs several questions, such as: Is this another no-bid contractor? Are they engaged in kickbacks---contributions---payments to Bush/Cheney? Is this a White House attempt to prolong the Afghan-Taliban war?
When these types of occurences/mistakes have become the standard in the Afghan & Iraq wars, why the gosh *** heck are we STILL there?! We shouldn''t be!

[quetzal0666]

This is Hillarius......
Just who in the world is getting kickbacks?
Congress should be furious.

[blackwater66-2009]

I am glad that we are not using this guys ammo here in the big ''I''. An 18 year old running the company and our Government gave him the contract and never followed up on the quality of his merchandise ??????

Hurry up Big John and get in office soon, we need you over here! Vote GOP !!

God Help us over here !!!

[hungry1968]

"U.S. Army Suspends Afghan Ammo Supplier
Miami Beach Firm Reportedly Delivered Chinese Ammunition To Afghan Army"




Why is it perfectly acceptable that Bush should run us TRILLIONS of dollars into debt to China, but this company can''t buy cheap ammo from them to save us the taxpayers millions (billions?) of dollars?

More of the neo cons mantra "do as I say, not as I do, because I''m a bigger hypocrite than you?"

[fstop100]

Doesn''t surprise me at all with this administration of thieves.

[sistatee-2009]

I''ll sleep better knowing the Afghan army isn''t using Chinese ammunition.

[brianbwb-2009]

"According to the contract, based on federal law, companies doing business with the U.S. government cannot buy any munitions directly or indirectly from a Chinese military company, or any entity that is part of China''s defense industrial base."

Under penalty of...?

[alphaa10-2009]

Another quick-and-dirty scandal, brought to you by the same attitude which created the mortgage disaster-- "take the money and run".

Remember toadstools like this when the next Bush bozo starts whining about government regulation.

Of course, these are the same people who want police everywhere, constant surveillance by Washington of American citizens, and spending more on weapons than all the rest of the world, combined.

But "don''t regulate "our" markets", they say-- you might catch us in crime.

[lemonskink]

I just finished writing to a Senator and a Congressman from PA, to look into this matter. This guy is 22 years old, quit school, and lacks any experience whatsoever in munitions. I am slackjawed at this administration. I wonder how many more of these contracts were awarded to inept and scrupulous characters. This kid has a page on MySpace.com, and is totally incapable of even simple spelling. UNBELIEVABLE...

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Audio_reveals_US_defense_contractor_proposing_0327.html

[taylorretire]

WHERE CAN I GET CHINEESE LESSONS. IT SEEMS THAT THE GREAT USA CAN NOT DO ANYTHING RIGHT. WHY ARE WE BEING SOLD OUT?

[j-whitman]

Element51,,,, The concept of hoards of democrats rushing h to vote for McCain ----- Is the same as loading your gun with 40 year old Cold War ammo

[iknowbest-2009]

A dishonest military contractor? Under a RepubliKKKan administration? No way!

[iknowbest-2009]

A dishonest military contractor? Under a RepubliKKKan administration? No way!

[iknowbest-2009]

A dishonest military contractor? Under a RepubliKKKan administration? No way!