Israel sold more than $1.5 million worth of assault rifles, pistols and ammunition to equip the presidential guard of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, but the deal later descended into a payment dispute after Congolese authorities allegedly complained of defective products and noncompliant ammunition, some of which was ultimately returned to Israel in a complex logistics operation costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The details emerge from court documents filed as part of a commercial dispute between EMTAN, a firearms manufacturer based in Karmiel and controlled by businessman Reuven Zada, and SYN-RG-Ai, which according to the filings acted as an intermediary in the transaction. EMTAN also purchased ammunition for the project from IMI plants.
SYN-RG-Ai owners Maj. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa, right, and Avihai Stolero
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, Ilya Melnikov)
The dispute recently escalated when EMTAN filed a 4.5 million-shekel lawsuit against SYN-RG-Ai, alleging an unpaid debt.
According to Israel’s corporate registry, SYN-RG-Ai is owned by retired Maj. Gen. Roni Numa, former head of the IDF Central Command, who holds 39%; businessman and logistics company ICL owner Lt. Col. (res.) Avihai Stolero, also with 39%; and Col. (res.) Avraham “Avi” Cohen, who owns 22% and serves as the company’s CEO. Cohen previously held senior positions in the IDF’s C4I and Cyber Defense Directorate.
On its website, SYN-RG-Ai presents itself as a technology company providing information and communications solutions, rather than as a company involved in trading weapons and ammunition.
According to court filings, the relationship between the companies over the Congo project began in 2022.
“The parties conducted negotiations in which they agreed that SYN-RG-Ai would purchase firearms manufactured by EMTAN as well as various types of ammunition manufactured by IMI,” EMTAN alleged in its lawsuit, filed through attorneys Gabriel Disney and Hila Nissan.
The gunmaker said that although it normally requires full payment in advance before supplying goods, it was persuaded that the intermediaries were “high-ranking reserve officers who appeared to be wealthy, truthful men with money, assets and influence who could be trusted.”
EMTAN further argued that the arms industry operates largely on personal trust, with major transactions sometimes proceeding on oral agreements and the personal word of the parties involved.
“Payment on time and in full is the ‘holy of holies,’ which the parties observe with the utmost seriousness without imagining that a promise would be broken,” the company said in its filing.
The shipments were sent between June and November 2023. They included hundreds of MZ-4 and MZ-15 assault rifles, MZ-10 machine guns, Ramon pistols, laser designators, telescopic sights and night-vision systems, as well as millions of rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 9mm ammunition.
Invoices listed the consignee as “Presidency of the Republic of Congo – Palace of the Nation, Kinshasa.”
After detailing the components and prices, the invoices stated that “the parts are weapons components and require licenses and export approval from the Defense Ministry’s Defense Export Controls Agency.”
According to email correspondence filed with the court, although the weapons shipments were delivered, the Congolese government did not pay the full amount. SYN-RG-Ai then sought to return part of the shipments to EMTAN and deduct their value from its outstanding debt.
In a December 9, 2024 email titled “Return of ammunition to Israel as part of the Congo project,” SYN-RG-Ai’s CEO wrote to EMTAN’s CEO: “I am requesting your assistance in returning ammunition to Israel and crediting it due to the Congo government’s nonpayment on the project. The ammunition is stored at the Kibomango base of the presidential guard in Congo.”
Cohen added that “ICL (Avihai) will handle all logistics in Congo and Israel, including packing and transport on the Congolese side, chartering the aircraft/air shipment, permits and approvals in Israel.”
He asked that the value of the returned ammunition be credited against SYN-RG-Ai’s debt to EMTAN, which EMTAN claimed at the time exceeded $1 million, after SYN-RG-Ai had already paid about $490,000.
SYN-RG-Ai rejected EMTAN’s claims and said in response that the gunmaker was concealing the fact that SYN-RG-Ai had already paid it about $10 million, “far more than the plaintiff is entitled to in light of its conduct.”
“SYN-RG-Ai has strong claims of its own and intends to file a counterclaim over inflated prices, the supply of defective products, the supply of noncompliant ammunition and other failures and breaches of the agreement,” the company said.
It also rejected the personal claims against shareholders and directors as legally baseless, describing them as an attempt to pressure them by threatening damage to their reputations.
SYN-RG-Ai further alleged that the litigation amounted to misuse of legal proceedings in the context of a commercial dispute and suggested that EMTAN was seeking to harm one of SYN-RG-Ai’s shareholders after another company he owns defeated EMTAN in a major IDF tender to supply assault rifles worth tens of millions of shekels.
EMTAN challenged the tender result in court and sought to have itself declared the winner, but its petition was rejected, SYN-RG-Ai said, adding that the company “apparently refuses to come to terms with the loss.”