Millionaire businessman jailed in Britain for selling fake bomb detectors

LONDON – A millionaire businessman who sold fake bomb detectors has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in Britain.

James McCormick made an estimated 50 million pounds ($77.8 million) from the sales of his non-working detectors — which were based on a novelty golf ball finder — to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.

Prosecutor Richard Whittam said the devices, which sold for up to 27,000 pounds ($42,000) each, claimed to be able to find explosives and drugs under water and from the air. He said in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were no better than trying to detect explosives at random.

McCormick, 56, was convicted of three counts of fraud last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.