Uk Businessman Convicted for Selling Fake Bomb Detectors

(Image source: The Guardian) BY ELAINE STOCKDALE United Kingdom businessman Jim McCormick has been convicted on three counts of fraud, after years selling fake bomb detectors at up to $50,000 each, to military, government and police — often in countries riddled with terrorism. "The court have heard evidence that the device has no basis in science, in fact there are no working parts in that device, it is empty." (Via Telegraph) McCormick bought hundreds of novelty golf ball finders in the U.S. for $20 each, then attached antennas and his own labels to create the fake devices. He then dubbed them ADE 651s, and sold them with special sensor cards he claimed in various cases could locate bombs, ivory, $100 bills and even human bodies.  (Via Sky News) According to International Business Times, McCormick claimed the detector could bypass "...all known forms of concealment and could detect items up to three miles away, even underwater and through walls." According to The Huffington Post, McCormick used glossy brochures and Internet videos with men dressed in military-style fatigues using the device in order to market the fake detectors to government officials. McCormick, a former policeman, sold the bogus detectors all over the world, including in Niger, Georgia, Egypt, Thailand, Libya and Kenya. (Via Daily Mail) He also sold the devices to citizens in Iraq, when the threat of IED attacks was almost always high, giving people using the devices had a false sense of security when in dangerous areas. Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC told the BBC, "the devices did not work and he knew they did not work." One Iraqi woman who needed 59 operations after being injured in a 2009 bomb blast told the BBC, "He has no conscience. He is morally bankrupt." The whistleblower on McCormick's case, a former colleague, spoke to the BBC about his suspicions and confrontation to McCormick about the fale device they purchased. "I was expecting him to say it detects explosives, ivory, gold, he never said that, he said it makes money. I said I want nothing more to do with it. He said suit yourself, you're walking away from millions. I said at least I can sleep at night." Over the last ten years, McCormick made more than $40 million from selling the device in Baghdad alone. At least 6,000 of the devices were purchased by government officials who McCormick allegedly bribed to make the sale. According to ABC, police are now after McCormick's fortune. They plan to confiscate his assets, including a $7 million home formerly owned by Nicolas Cage, a one-million-dollar yacht and his holiday homes in Florida and Cyprus. McCormick's sentencing will begin May 2. He could face up to eight years in prison.