James McCormick guilty of selling fake bomb detectors

James McCormick guilty of selling fake bomb detectors

McCormick's fake bomb detectors were used at Iraqi checkpoints staffed by the British military
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A millionaire businessman who sold fake bomb detectors to countries including Iraq and Georgia, knowing they did not work, has been convicted of fraud.

James McCormick, 56, of Langport, Somerset, is said to have made £50m from sales of the devices.

The Advanced Detection Equipment was based on a golf ball finder device and sold for up to $40,000 (£27,000) in Iraq, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and Niger.

An Iraqi bomb victim described him as a "morally bankrupt" man.
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Both civilians and armed forces personnel were put at significant risk”
Det Insp Ed Heath
Deputy senior investigating officer
Fake bomb detectors 'destroyed lives'

The models were described by prosecutors as completely ineffectual and lacking any grounding in science.

Police said McCormick showed a complete disregard for the safety of those who used and relied upon the device for their own security and protection.

There is no evidence that he tried to sell to the Ministry of Defence, but an Essex policeman organised a demonstration which was watched by an MoD inspector.

McCormick claimed that the detectors could bypass "all forms of concealment" and would detect explosives, drugs, ivory and people.

He claimed they would work under water and from the air, and would track an object up to one kilometre below the ground.

His device was based on $20 golf ball finders he had purchased from the US and had no working electronics.

Richard Whittam QC, who was prosecuting, said "the devices did not work and he knew they did not work."

Iraq spent more than $40m on 6,000 devices between 2008 and 2010.

Haneen Alwan needed 59 operations after she was injured in a bomb blast in January 2009. She was two months pregnant at the time and lost her child.

"When people passed through checkpoints using these devices, they thought they would be safe, but they are useless. The man who sold them has no conscience. He is morally bankrupt. How could he sell them just for money and destroy other people's lives?" she told a BBC Newsnight investigation into the case.

The fake bomb

detectors were based on a $20 golf ball finder, pictured between two examples of McCormick's fake devices

A senior Iraqi official told the BBC that the useless devices had created a false sense of security - and that no punishment would make up for the blood that had been shed as a result.

The Newsnight programme conducted an investigation into the devices sold by McCormick's company, resulting in a UK government ban on their sale in Iraq and Afghanistan in January 2010.

"The devices were used at numerous checkpoints within Iraq during this period. It is clear that both civilians and armed forces personnel were put at significant risk in relying upon this equipment," said Det Insp Ed Heath of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the deputy senior investigating officer.

"McCormick showed a complete disregard for the safety of those that used and relied upon the device for their own security and protection. He amassed many millions of pounds through his greed and criminal enterprise."

Det Supt Nigel Rock of Avon and Somerset Police called McCormick "a conman".

"We have heard evidence from many, many experts, scientists, leaders in their field, who have said this was a fraud. A sham.

That device has been used and is still being used on checkpoints. People using that device believe it works. It does not."

Police intend to pursue McCormick's wealth under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

McCormick was remanded on conditional bail and will be sentenced on 2 May.
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