The gunrunner Hollywood made famous is now one of the most feared names in Midwest housing...

Efraim Diveroli, the former arms dealer whose Pentagon contract fraud inspired the 2016 Jonah Hill film War Dogs, has emerged from a Delaware courtroom with the upper hand over a collapsing Midwest apartment empire. Diveroli was sentenced to four years in prison on charges related to arms dealing and fraud but has since reinvented himself as a commercial lender through a vehicle called YSA Investments 1, LLC.

A Desperate Borrower and Extraordinary Interest Rates

In 2024, Marc Kulick, the sole owner and manager of Tulsa-based Vesta Holdings and its affiliated entities, was searching for short-term financing. An acquaintance introduced him to Diveroli, the principal of YSA Investments, a special purpose vehicle for his commercial lending. What followed was a series of loans carrying terms that would test the limits of any borrower.

A June 2025 loan carried a principal of $315,000, with Kulick obligated to repay $515,000 by July 1, at an interest rate of 1,565% per annum, compounded daily. Court records allege Kulick ultimately defaulted on four loans, with interest rates ranging from 1,500% to 7,000% compounded daily, running up an estimated $930 million in defaulted loan obligations. Delaware is one of the few states in the United States that does not place limits on interest rates under usury laws, a fact that proved decisive when Kulick sued, calling the rates unreasonable. Delaware's Court of Chancery ruled against him.

Court records in a separate action describe Kulick's approach to Diveroli as a "Hail Mary" attempt to keep his scheme afloat. Kulick acknowledged at trial that 32 of Vesta's 34 properties routinely needed cash. He pledged his entire portfolio of multifamily assets spanning Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas as collateral.

A Crumbling Empire and Mounting Legal Exposure

The Diveroli dispute is only one front in a widening legal war around Vesta Realty. In recent months, the company has been subject to at least 20 lawsuits, possibly more, alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid amounts. A 199-page lawsuit filed by Kulick's own business partner alleges he used money that was supposed to go to the business as his "personal piggy bank," with court documents claiming Kulick looted over $37 million to pay for credit cards, car loans, and gambling debts. A forensic report cited in that lawsuit describes Kulick's financial actions as "classic Ponzi-like," pointing to revelations that in two months of 2025, Vesta had an average daily account balance of roughly $80,000 but outflows close to $59 million.

The consequences for tenants have been severe. In February, Stillwater declared the Remington Ranch apartment complex a public nuisance after months without heat and water. In July, Jenks followed suit, declaring two Vesta properties a nuisance over piled-up trash. As of March 13, Vesta owed the city of Tulsa $421,534 in unpaid water bills.

Meanwhile, Tulsa land records show YSA has filed an agreement for deed and transfer on multiple Vesta properties, indicating a change in control, though the full picture remains unclear. The man who once sold ammunition to the Pentagon may soon find himself as somebody's landlord.

Sources:
KJRH 2 News Oklahoma: How the Vesta saga now includes racketeering claims and War Dogs
Oklahoma Watch: New Lawsuit Adds to Vesta Realty CEO's Legal Troubles
Oklahoma Watch: When Landlords Don't Pay the Bills, It's the Tenants Who Struggle