Nick Tessla Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 From the BBC "Millionaire businessman James McCormick, 56, has been convicted at the Old Bailey of three counts of fraud after selling fake bomb detectors. 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. McCormick, of Langport, Somerset, said to have made £50m from sales of the devices, will be sentenced next month......." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Lock him in a cell with a slow ticking time bomb! By the time it goes off he will be too well insane to notice when it goes Boom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Send him out mine detecting in a mine field with one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Had he been some guy selling them on the market for a tenner a pop nobody would have bought one. But he was flogging them at an extortionate price so everybody wanted one regardless of whether they worked or not. It is a case of, at that price they must be good. Cannot condone his actions in selling them as bomb detectors but you have to admire his cheek. Del boy eat your heart out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Isn't this what they call entrepreneurial initiative?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted April 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Isn't this what they call entrepreneurial initiative?! I was going to respond that Thatcher would have been proud of him - then I remembered, he didn't actually get rid of any mines. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P J Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 this geezer wants his money back 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 and by hook or by crook..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 What I want to know is how the heck does a golf ball finder work? Reminds me of when they discovered the mirror in the Hubble telescope was distorted and all the stars looked blurred. Yet when they turned it and pointed it towards the earth, all they could see was golf balls. May be they weren't the only ones this guy conned. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Just as a side note if anyone ever does come across a golf ball finder that works can they let me know so I can buy my dad one for his birthday. But on a more serious note. I do have to wonder why so many of these fake bomb detectors were bought and especially why they were used on border controlls in known places where the threat of bombs and loss of lives are so very real etc. Clearly no one in authority had bothered to test them out in a controlled environment to make sure they did actually work. Surely the mention of them being able to detect 100 dollar bank notes too (or whatever it was ) and everything else must have made people wonder.... or maybe desperate people are more gullible ..... or maybe some other evil sods spread the word that they did work ( knowing that they wouldn't) just so more innocent lives would be lost or people injured and the blame could be shifted from the evil bombers to the one idiot in the 'other' counrtry who provided the so called testers. Quite shocking all ways around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 I did come across a golf ball finder that worked but he didn't come cheap and ended up banned from the golf course. but only after they found out he was employing six other lads to help him whilst he sold the found balls at the entrance at a quid for five. made quite a bit of money out of it until he was stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 The various procurement Depts, who where conned due to being bribed or just being thick, are more to blame - isn't it normal to test such items before purchase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 The various procurement Depts, who where conned due to being bribed or just being thick, are more to blame - isn't it normal to test such items before purchase? I doubt that a test sample would be the same as the rest of the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Don't think any of them worked - so wouldn't have withstood a scientific test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 He's been given ten years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Any "cash back"?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 So he's now got 10 years in jail , but you do grudgingly have to take your hat off to the bloke . I remember buying a tv ariel once & when i got home i realised that that H antenna vanes weren't actually connected to the wire that went in the back of the telly . Maybe that was one of his early scams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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