British Businessman Jailed That Sold 1200 Fake Bomb Detectors to Mexico Al Jazeera
go to original August 20, 2013

A businessman who sold fake bomb detectors around the world has been jailed for seven years. (Kate Richterr)

A British businessman, who sold fake bomb detectors worldwide, has been sentenced to seven years in jail with the judge branding the devices “useless” produced out of “spurious science”.

Gary Bolton was the second Briton in three months to be jailed for selling fake bomb detectors to countries around the world.

The GT200s were home-made plastic boxes with handles and antennae but Gary Bolton claimed they could detect explosives, narcotics, tobacco, ivory and even cash.

“You were determined to bolster the illusion that the devices worked and you knew there was a spurious science to produce that end," Judge Richard Hone said on Tuesday while declaring the sentence.

“They had a random detection rate. They were useless. Soldiers, police officers, customs officers and many others put their trust in a device which worked no better than random chance,” Hone said.

Around 1,200 devices were sold to Mexico, while orders were also shipped to parts of Asia and the Middle East. The devices are still being used in Thailand, the court was told.

... The boxes cost less than $7.85 to make but were sold for between $3,900 and $15,700 in bulk or up to $23,500 if bought individually.

The court heard Bolton's company, Global Technology, had a turnover of almost $4.7 million, with up to 5,000 devices made.

Read the rest at Al Jazeera

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