Efraim Diveroli made his name — and his money — selling weapons to the U.S. government before he could legally rent a car. He was 21 when a Pentagon deal collapsed under him, and federal prison followed. Today, two decades later, he’s a landlord. This bio pulls only from court filings, named reporters, and Diveroli’s own public statements. No aggregator guesswork, no unverified “sources say” claims.
Quick Answer
- Full name: Efraim Diveroli
- Born: December 20, 1985, in Miami Beach, Florida
- Known for: Founding AEY, Inc. and inspiring the 2016 film War Dogs
- Prison record: Pleaded guilty to conspiracy; served roughly four years in federal prison
- Doing now: Runs YSA Investments 1, LLC, and holds a large Oklahoma apartment portfolio
- Marital status: Not publicly confirmed
Quick Facts Table
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Efraim Diveroli |
| Date of birth | December 20, 1985 |
| Birthplace | Miami Beach, Florida |
| Age | 40 (as of August 2026) |
| Parents | Ateret and Michael Diveroli |
| Company founded | AEY, Inc. |
| Major contract | ~$298–300 million Pentagon ammunition deal (2007) |
| Conviction | Conspiracy to defraud the United States |
| Prison sentence | 4 years, imposed January 2011 |
| Sentence appeal | Denied by the 11th Circuit, 2015 |
| Release | 2014, to a halfway house |
| Debarment status | Terminated by the U.S. Army, effective March 24, 2022 |
| Memoir | Once a Gun Runner… (2016), with Matthew Cox |
| Film | War Dogs (2016), Jonah Hill played Diveroli |
| Current business | YSA Investments 1, LLC |
Early Life: An Orthodox Miami Kid Who Loved Guns
Efraim Diveroli was born December 20, 1985, in Miami Beach, to Ateret and Michael Diveroli. The family was Orthodox Jewish. He studied at Hebrew Academy in Miami Beach, and his uncle is the well-known rabbi Shmuley Boteach. His grandfather, Yoav Botach, had built a sizable Los Angeles property portfolio — a detail that reads almost like foreshadowing, given where Diveroli’s career eventually landed him.
Business came early, and it didn’t come gently. At fifteen, after an argument with his uncle, Diveroli told his father he wanted to trade arms and ammunition for a living. His father handed over a dormant shell company: AEY, Inc., its name built from the initials of Diveroli and his siblings. Public records confirm the siblings existed. They don’t name them, so neither will this article.
Even his own family saw the talent early. In 2008, his grandfather told CNN that Diveroli was “a genius about anything to do with weapons” — a quote given before the scandal broke, back when the family still framed his work as patriotic duty.
Building AEY: A Pentagon Contract at 21
Fast forward six years. By 2007, Diveroli and his 25-year-old partner David Packouz had already landed roughly $200 million in government contracts through AEY. That same year brought their biggest win yet: a Pentagon deal worth close to $300 million to arm allied forces in Afghanistan.
None of it came from a corner office. Diveroli ran the business from a one-room Miami apartment, working off a laptop and bidding on government solicitations posted to FedBizOpps. Rolling Stone later described him as having “an appetite for risk and all-devouring ambition.” The Miami Herald called him an “arms wunderkind.” Both labels turned out to be accurate — and, eventually, costly.
The China-Ammunition Scandal
The Afghanistan contract didn’t survive long. On March 27, 2008, the U.S. government suspended AEY after discovering the company had shipped Chinese-manufactured ammunition to Afghan forces and repackaged it to hide where it came from.
Here’s the twist: the ammunition itself didn’t technically break the China arms embargo, since it predated a 1989 cutoff. What broke the law was the cover-up. AEY’s contract banned Chinese ammunition outright, and disguising its origin turned a bad supply decision into fraud.
Congressional investigators went further, ruling some of the ammunition “unserviceable.” It wasn’t AEY’s first stumble, either — the company had already failed to deliver 10,000 Beretta pistols to Iraq under an earlier contract.
Diveroli pleaded guilty in 2008 to one count of conspiracy. On January 4, 2011, a judge sentenced him to four years in federal prison, plus extra time for possessing a weapon while out on bond. Packouz got off far lighter: seven months of house arrest. As for when Diveroli actually walked free, sources disagree — some say mid-2014, others December 2014 — so this piece leaves the exact date open rather than picking one.
Efraim Diveroli’s Legal Case: The 2015 Sentencing Appeal
The conspiracy plea wasn’t Diveroli’s last stop in federal court. He challenged his sentence on appeal, arguing his attorney had miscalculated how much prison time he actually faced going in. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals took up the case — Diveroli v. United States — and ruled against him in 2015, finding the lower court had correctly handled his original sentencing.
The Memoir, the Lawsuit, and War Dogs
Prison didn’t slow Diveroli’s storytelling instincts. While inside, he co-wrote a memoir, Once a Gun Runner…, published in 2016 with fellow inmate Matthew Cox, who had his own fraud conviction. Diveroli pushed the book hard online, at one point urging his followers to read it instead of watching the movie it partly inspired.
That movie was War Dogs, released the same year. Todd Phillips directed it; Jonah Hill played Diveroli, Miles Teller played Packouz. The script leaned on Rolling Stone journalist Guy Lawson’s original reporting on the AEY deal. Diveroli wasn’t a fan of how his story was being used without his blessing — he sued Warner Bros., Phillips, and producer Bradley Cooper that year, trying to stop the release and arguing the film borrowed from his memoir. How that lawsuit ended isn’t clearly documented in public reporting, so this article won’t claim an outcome. The true-crime podcast Scamfluencers revisited the AEY story in a 2026 episode, a sign the case still draws attention nearly a decade later.
Life After Prison: Debarment Lifted in 2022
For over a decade, Diveroli was legally barred from federal contracting. That changed in 2022. He went through a formal U.S. Army review of his qualifications, and on March 24, 2022, the Army terminated his 15-year debarment early, citing his demonstrated present responsibility. Law firm Jenner & Block, which represented him through the process, confirmed the outcome.
Lifting the debarment reopened doors. It didn’t send him back into arms dealing, though — Diveroli’s next chapter went in a very different direction.
Where Is Efraim Diveroli Now? Inside His 2026 Oklahoma Deal
By 2026, Diveroli had traded ammunition contracts for something quieter, and arguably just as aggressive: real estate lending. Through his company, YSA Investments 1, LLC, he began loaning money in 2024 to Oklahoma landlord Mark Kulick, whose firm Vesta Realty once controlled thousands of housing units.
The terms of those loans raise eyebrows on their own. According to court filings reported by NonDoc Media’s Tristan Loveless, one note carried 7,000 percent interest compounding daily; another ran at 1,500 percent compounding monthly. When Kulick defaulted, his debt to Diveroli reportedly topped $900 million. Delaware’s Chancery Court upheld the obligation in June 2026.
What happened next reads like a corporate showdown. Court documents quote Diveroli telling Kulick he could handle things “the easy way or the hard way.” Diveroli chose to litigate, filing second mortgages on Kulick’s properties. Since winning that case, YSA Investments 1 has taken ownership of roughly two dozen apartment complexes spread across Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Stillwater, and Bartlesville, with more holdings reported in Arkansas and Kansas. Kulick, separately, is fighting multiple fraud lawsuits from other creditors and facing an Oklahoma Department of Securities investigation opened in July 2026 — none of which implicates Diveroli directly.
So what does Diveroli call himself these days? His Instagram bio reads: “Entrepreneur & Investor, Government Contract Consultant, and the real-life inspiration behind the movie War Dogs.” His old partner isn’t in the picture anymore. Asked about Diveroli in a 2021 interview, Packouz said only that he was living in Miami — and that the two weren’t friends.
Is Efraim Diveroli Married?
Not as far as public records show. A handful of low-authority sites name a wife and even describe a memoir she supposedly wrote — but none of that traces back to a named, reputable outlet. Other sites go the opposite direction, naming specific ex-girlfriends with exact dating timelines. Neither version checks out against any named source, court record, or statement from Diveroli himself. With sourcing that thin and that contradictory, guessing isn’t an option here. If Diveroli confirms a relationship publicly, that’s worth revisiting.
How Much Is Efraim Diveroli Worth?
Just as murky. Estimates online swing from around $25 million to negative figures to numbers in the hundreds of millions, most of them loosely anchored to his old Pentagon contracts rather than any real accounting. No court filing or named financial outlet has put a verified number on his current wealth, so none appears here.
FAQs
Who is Efraim Diveroli?
He’s a Miami-born former arms dealer who ran AEY, Inc. and won a nearly $300 million Pentagon contract at 21, before being convicted of fraud.
What happened to Efraim Diveroli?
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States after AEY supplied Chinese-made ammunition mislabeled as Albanian, then served about four years in federal prison.
Where is Efraim Diveroli now?
As of 2026, he runs YSA Investments 1, LLC, and owns roughly two dozen Oklahoma apartment complexes after a defaulted loan dispute settled in Delaware’s Chancery Court.
Why did Efraim Diveroli go to prison?
He pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge tied to concealing the origin of Chinese-made ammunition supplied under a U.S. government contract, plus a separate charge for possessing a weapon while on bond.
How much is Efraim Diveroli worth today?
There’s no confirmed figure. Online estimates vary enormously and aren’t backed by named financial sources or filings.
Is War Dogs based on Efraim Diveroli’s real story?
Yes. The 2016 film drew on Rolling Stone journalist Guy Lawson’s reporting on Diveroli and Packouz, though it took some dramatic liberties.
Did Efraim Diveroli appeal his prison sentence?
Yes. He challenged his sentence in Diveroli v. United States, arguing his attorney miscalculated his sentencing exposure. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied the appeal in 2015.
Is Efraim Diveroli married?
Not confirmed. No reliable source verifies a wife or marriage, and this article won’t repeat unverified claims from low-quality sites.
What is AEY, Inc.?
AEY was Diveroli’s arms and ammunition contracting company, best known for a nearly $300 million Pentagon deal to supply Afghan forces before its 2008 suspension over the ammunition-origin scandal.
Key Takeaways
- Diveroli built AEY, Inc. as a teenager and landed a nearly $300 million Pentagon contract by 21.
- A 2008 scandal over mislabeled Chinese ammunition led to his guilty plea and a four-year federal prison sentence.
- He challenged that sentence on appeal in 2015; the Eleventh Circuit denied it.
- His story inspired the 2016 film War Dogs; he released a competing memoir the same year.
- The U.S. Army lifted his 15-year federal debarment in March 2022.
- By 2026, he’d become a real estate creditor, taking ownership of dozens of Oklahoma apartment complexes through YSA Investments 1 after a defaulted loan.
- His marital status and current net worth aren’t publicly confirmed.
Conclusion
Teenage arms broker. Federal inmate. Hollywood subject. Now, Oklahoma landlord. Diveroli’s public record moves through some strange chapters, but each one traces back to a court record, a named reporter, or his own words. The chapters that don’t — his marriage, his real net worth — stay blank here instead of getting filled in with a guess.
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