Jim McCormick
A businessman who put thousands of lives at risk and fooled police forces, the military and governments around the world into buying fake bomb-detection kits for millions of pounds is facing jail after being found guilty of fraud.
Millionaire James McCormick, 57, sold the useless devices, based on novelty golf-ball finders worth less than £13, for as much as £27,000 each to customers including the Iraqi government, the United Nations, Kenyan police, Hong Kong prison service, the Egyptian army, Thailand’s border control and Saudi Arabia.
The ineffectual detectors were used by soldiers and peacekeepers out in the field, putting lives at risk, with McCormick thought to have made an estimated £50 million from sales of his three models to Iraq, Belgium and the UN for use in Lebanon.
Detective Inspector Ed Heath, who led Avon and Somerset Police’s three-year ‘Operation Venus’ into the conman, said: “It is clear that both civilians and armed forces personnel were put at significant risk in relying upon this equipment.
“McCormick showed a complete disregard for the safety of those that used and relied upon the device for their own security and protection.”
Experts said the detectors lacked “any grounding in science, nor does it work in accordance with the known laws of physics”, adding that they were “completely ineffectual as a piece of detection equipment”.
McCormick, who worked from a cramped office in Somerset, claimed his devices could detect minuscule traces of explosives, class A drugs, ivory and human beings at a distance of up to 1km at ground level and from a plane flying 5km high.
Brochures marketing the fake bomb detectors under the Advanced Detection Equipment brand promised that the devices could also pick up substances up to 30 metres underwater or 10 metres underground, and through walls.
Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, said: “The devices did not work and he knew they did not work.
“He made them knowing that they were going to be sold as something that it was claimed was simply fantastic. You may think those claims are incredible.”
He added: “He had them manufactured so that they could be sold – and despite the fact they did not work, people bought them for a handsome but unwarranted profit.”
It was no better than trying to detect explosives at random, said Mr Whittam.
The devices were sold by McCormick and his companies along with training and “sensor cards”, the court heard.
Mr Whittam told the jury at the Old Bailey that McCormick imported Gopher golf-ball finders costing £13 from the US and then got a UK manufacturer to add bits on before selling them for up to £27,000 each.
The devices came with an antenna that was not connected to anything, and the user inserted coloured cards with encoded information of the substance to be detected.
McCormick became involved with the detector scam when another businessman demonstrated an early ‘prototype’ to him in 2000.
The former electrical salesman, who also spent two years as a probationary officer on Merseyside, agreed to buy one for £10,000.
He later marketed the device to his contacts in countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, China,Kenya, South Africa and Mexico.
The pair later fell out after McCormick subjected the device to a ‘double blind’ test that showed it was useless.
Liverpool-born McCormick told the court he sold his detectors to police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and border control in Thailand.
The United Nations paid £46,000 for five devices to be used in Lebanon to detect explosives in cars, and McCormick tried to get an order for another 80 but UN officials then tested the devices and found they were ‘not fit for purpose’.
Belgian police handed over £12,800 for similar machine to detect drugs only to find it did not work – when concerns were raised, McCormick told officers they needed further training.
The Iraqi police also bought the machines, as well as officials in Niger and Georgia, who asked for a special card to detect Georgian currency.
McCormick, of Langport, South Somerset, said: “I never had any negative results from customers.”
He denied three counts of fraud in relation to three models he sold, but an Old Bailey jury found him unanimously guilty on all three counts.
He was granted conditional bail to allow him to get his affairs in order before being sentenced on May 2.
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