Thousands of Pakistani victims targeted by bombers and blasts could still have been alive if these detectors were not fake and had worked effectively. James McCormick, 56, was found guilty of three counts of fraud at London’s Old Bailey for selling completely ineffective devices based on an American novelty golf ball finder. McCormick made an estimated £50 million from sales of his three models to customers that included Iraq, Belgium, the United Nations, Pakistan, Yemen, Georgia, Niger, and several other countries.
“The devices did not work and he knew they did not work,” prosecutor Richard Whittam told jurors. Each device was sold for £27,000. Bomb detectors are used widely in Pakistan by private and state security forces but public and private agencies will have to buy new and authentic equipment.
“And despite the fact they did not work, people bought them for a handsome but unwarranted profit.” McCormick has been bailed until his sentencing on May 2. The businessman, who is from Langport in Somerset, southwest England, is believed to have made around £37 million from sales to Iraq alone, while other customers included Georgia and Niger.
A source has told The News that the crooked businessman is believed to have sold fake equipment worth millions to Pakistan as well in the last 10 years. When contacted by The News, Pakistani security officials sought more time to find details about the nature of the equipment bought by Pakistan. It will be interesting to see whether the fake bomb detectors were bought by Pakistan’s armed forces or the police services and who facilitated this deal.
This high-profile case with serious ramifications for Pakistan has almost gone unnoticed in Pakistan but questions arise about those who will be found involved in this deal, definitely lining their own pockets. But more importantly, there is an issue of the lives lost in Pakistan.
More than 40,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives since the start of the so-called ‘war on terror’ and since the start of this war, Pakistan has been buying equipment from western countries and these countries have been giving weapons to Pakistan also. Several Pakistanis may have lost their lives due to these ineffectual detectors, used by security forces at check points and elsewhere. Many of the suicide bombings and bomb attacks could have been stopped if these detectors were effective and working but after the trial in London and the expose of the businessman’s fraud it is becoming certain that his company has the blood of Pakistanis on his hands. McCormick stressed during court proceedings that he mainly sold equipment to military establishments but he didn’t say whether he had sold this equipment directly to Pakistan military or through civilian government, if in the last five years.
It has been said that the British government officials advised the conman on how to market his products to the conflict ridden countries. McCormick was able to persuade 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.
British media has focused on how this fraud could have cost the lives of thousands of Iraqis but nothing has been mentioned about Pakistanis who have been killed and maimed in more than 10 years of the ‘war on terror’.
The Iraqi government spent £56 million on the fake bomb detectors, some of which was paid as bribes to senior figures. A spokesman at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills denied any knowledge about McCormick’s business deal, including with Pakistan.
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