A conman who put thousand of lives at risks by selling fake bomb detectors was given advice on how to market the devices to United Nations agencies by British Government officials, it has emerged.
James McCormick made £50million by selling the plastic objects based on £13 novelty 'golf ball finders' to security forces - particularly in Iraq, where they were used at virtually every checkpoint in Baghdad and Basra from 2006 and are still in use today.
The 57-year-old touted the ‘completely ineffectual’ gadgets for up to £27,000 each to police forces and armies around the world.
And it has now been revealed that he attended a seminar on 'how to sell to the UN' organised by UK Trade & Investment in March 2008, where he met with officials responsible for promoting British business abroad.
Although there is no evidence that staff at the seminar knew the devices were useless, the Department for Business was warned about the dangers of fake detectors in 2008.
A whistleblower sent a dossier entitled 'Dowsing rods endanger lives' to business minister Ian Pearson in November that year, saying: 'Somebody is going to be seriously hurt or killed using or relying on these devices to detect explosives, if they haven't already.'
The gadgets are essentially just hand-held aerials fixed to plastic hinges.
But, incredibly, McCormick persuaded governments and military chiefs that they could detect tiny traces of explosives, drugs, ivory and even humans at a distance of up to three miles.
Yesterday the ‘morally bankrupt’ businessman was convicted of three counts of fraud at the Old Bailey.
Senior British and Iraqi security officials believe his scam allowed suicide bombers to kill and maim thousands.
On one occasion terrorists drove a vehicle laden with rockets and missiles through 23 checkpoints in Baghdad where the device was used.
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Fake: The majority of James McCormick's fake detectors were sold to Iraq where they were used at virtually every checkpoint in Baghdad and Basra from 2006 - and are still in use today (file photo)
Fake: McCormick, 57, sold the 'completely ineffectual' devices for up to £27,000 each to police forces and armies around the world
Scam: It's believed his scam allowed suicide bombers to kill and maim thousands. On one occasion terrorists drove a vehicle with rockets and missiles through 23 checkpoints in Baghdad where the device was used
McCormick, a former trainee policeman, used the millions he was paid to fund a lavish lifestyle.
He owned a £5million Regency townhouse in Bath, a £1.5million farmhouse near Taunton, Somerset, a £250,000 holiday home in Florida and a £350,000 villa in Cyprus.
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The conman also spent £630,000 on a Sunseeker yacht and £210,000 on three horses for one of his two daughters who wants to compete in the British dressage team at the 2016 Olympics.
Although police have frozen £15million of his assets, investigators believe he has laundered at least another £15million through Cyprus, Belize and Beirut.
Spot the difference: This image shows a golf ball finder (centre) in between two of McCormick's adapted versions which he claimed were bona fide bomb detectors
Model: Advanced Detection Equipment 651. Prosecutors said the devices were little more than golf ball finders
RAW: Fake bomb detector (golf ball trackers) in use in Iraq 2010
The Iraqi government spent £56million on the fake bomb detectors, some of which was paid as bribes to senior figures.
These included General Jihad al-Jabiri, head of the Baghdad bomb squad, who helped McCormick win the massive contract.
He and two other Iraqi officials are now serving jail terms for corruption.
McCormick based the fake detector on a novelty golf ball finder called a Golfinder.
He imported large shipments of them from the US from 2005.
He claimed they worked by using electrostatic energy from the human body, coming to life after the user has shuffled their feet or walked a few steps. Users were given a variety of cards supposedly programmed to detect different substances.
At first he simply attached stickers bearing the words ‘International Association of Bomb Technicians’ to the golf ball finders to make them look authentic.
Blast: Iraqis gather at the site of a bomb attack in central Baghdad in 2010, at a time that James McCormick's fake detectors were sold to to the country
Millionaire businessman James McCormick (left) is facing jail after being convicted of selling fake bomb detectors. African soldiers trial the fake bomb detectors being sold by McCormick as he watches, smiling
Jim McCormick (pictured) enjoyed a life of luxury with the millions he earned selling his fake bomb detectors - while thousands of people died
NOT time for clapping. Businessman sells FAKE bomb detectors to...
Device: The Advanced Detection Equipment 651 was sold for tens of thousands of dollars
Contract: Iraqi soldiers use an ADE 651 bomb detector at a checks during a security checkpoint mission in Abu T'Shir, Iraq, in 2008
Glossy brochures marketing the devices promised that they could pick up substances up to 100ft underwater or 30ft underground.
The conman said they could also detect fluids and human beings.
Later versions of the device were modified slightly, but still closely resembled the golf ball finders.
McCormick reeled in clients by embarking on a series of sales talks in which he purported to explain the science behind his system.
He even claimed to have a doctorate – despite leaving school in Liverpool with just three O-levels.
During the trial, Professor David Last, from the University of Wales, said: ‘To me it was a jumble of technical phrases and disconnected sentences. In my judgment it had no scientific validity whatsoever.’
As well as Iraq and Afghanistan, the detectors were sold to Niger, Georgia, Romania, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
Exclusive: The Circus in Bath where McCormick owned a terraced house
Exclusive: Number 7 the Circus in Bath, formerly owned by Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage, where Jim Mcormick owned a terraced house
Holiday home: McCormick's £350 villa in Cyrpus
Attempts were made to supply them to United Nations security forces in Lebanon, but the deal was never done.
Prosecutor Richard Whittam, QC, said the devices did not work ‘in accordance with the known laws of physics’. They were ‘completely ineffectual as a piece of detection equipment’ and were no better at identifying bombs then trying to detect them by random chance.
‘The devices did not work and McCormick knew they did not work. But he had manufactured them so they could be sold despite the fact they did not work.’
When police raided McCormick’s properties in July 2010 they found invoices for hundreds of golf ball finders. A leaflet about the Golfinders discovered at his home said: ‘It’s a great novelty item that you should have fun with.’
After the trial Detective Superintendent Nigel Rock, of Avon and Somerset police, said: ‘I find what he did quite incredible and diabolical.
‘He knew what he was doing – he was selling something that was useless. His device doesn’t work and can never work and McCormick knows that.’ McCormick will be sentenced on May 2.
Inside: The reception room at number 7 Circus in Bath, the house formerly owned by Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage, where McCormick owned a terraced house
Luxury: The property in Bath also has an indoor swimming pool