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Guilty Pleas in Albania Arms Row
Tirana | 27 May 2009 | Two officials of Miami-based company AEY, suspected of a murky arms deals with Albanian authorities to ship Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghan army, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal fraud charges in Florida.
“David Packouz and Alexander Podrizki, both 27, each pleaded guilty to a single fraud conspiracy charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years,” reported the Associated Press.
Efraim Diveroli, AYE’s chief, David Packouz, Alexander Podrizki and Ralph Merrill were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami on wide-ranging fraud charges in connection to supplying ammunition to the Afghan army, announced in June 2008 R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
“The indictment alleges that the defendants submitted documents to the Army falsely attesting that the ammunition they provided was manufactured in Albania, when, in fact, the ammunition came from China,” said Acosta in a statement at the time of the indictment.
“To effectuate the scheme, defendants Diveroli, Packouz and Podrizki directed others to assist in the packaging of ammunition to be delivered to Afghanistan and provided instructions to remove Chinese markings from containers to conceal that the ammunition was manufactured in China,” the statement added.
Albanian leaders are suspected of profiting from the murky arms deal with AYE whose contract with the US Army has been suspended.
The row erupted after the New York Times published an article on March 28, 2008 accusing Albanian officials of murky deals with the Miami-based Pentagon contractor. The company had its contract with the US military revoked amid claims by the paper it was supplying decades-old ammunition to the Afghan army.
It is alleged Tirana and AEY used a third company, Cyprus-based Evdin Ltd., a company subcontracted by Albania’s trading giant, MEICO, to coordinate the deal between the Albanian military and AEY.
The New York Times alleges the Head of MEICO, Ylli Pinari, doubled the real price of the munitions and pocketed the difference which was shared among Albanian politicians.
“Such accusations should be used for toilet paper,” Prime Minister Sali Berisha argued when questioned about the paper’s allegation in parliament.
Albania’s general prosecutor Ina Rama has opened an investigation into the arms trafficking case. Source: Balkaninsight
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1 Response for “Guilty Pleas in Albania Arms Row”
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What others arms dealers did this guy work with? Any more Americans? How come so many are in South Florida? A Korean Arms dealer? An Iranian Arms Dealer? That guy who took money from Jamaica, Lance Brooks? What’s up with all these guys?