New details about the rise and fall of fraudster James McCormick, including his upbringing in Liverpool, have been revealed
James McCormick arriving at the Old Bailey on April 23, 2013
James McCormick arriving at the Old Bailey on April 23, 2013(Image: Oli Scarff/Getty Images, stylised by Marianna Longo/Reach Plc)
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A fraudster whose fake bomb detectors put “innocent lives at risk” across the world grew up in Anfield and was an officer in Merseyside Police, it has been revealed. James McCormick sold the gadgets, made from £13 novelty golf ball finders, for up to £27,000 a time.
His scambought him multi-million-pound homes, a yacht, villas in Florida and Cyprus, and horses worth £210,000 for his daughter. McCormick, who initially made his money in sales back in his native USA, was found guilty of three counts of fraud in 2013. He was jailed for ten years and police froze £15m of his assets.
His biggestmarket was in Iraq, where he raked in £38m over three years. The gadgets were used at nearly all checkpoints in Baghdad and Basra from 2006 but offered no protection from suicide attacks.
McCormick insisted his devices worked, despite the guilty verdict and numerous BBC investigations into his devices.
At his Old Bailey trial in 2013, Judge Richard Hone QC said McCormick's fraud had undoubtedly cost lives.
He was jailed again in 2018 for failing to pay back nearly £2m in cash and assets. McCormick received a default sentence of 842 days in prison after refusing to meet a £1.8m shortfall.
The ECHO reported in 2020 that McCormick had grown up in Liverpool and had received legal aid worth almost £100,000.
David Spencer, research director at the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “James McCormick’s disgusting fraud put many innocent people’s lives at risk and took his victims for fools. This case highlights all too clearly why legal aid...is badly in need of reform.”
A Legal Aid Agency spokeswoman said: “We changed the rules in 2013 to prevent wealthier individuals from being granted legal aid.”
A new podcast from Global, titled Unmissables: Explosive Lies, was released last month and revealed details about McCormick’s life and crimes that have never previously been aired. It is part of the Unmissable podcast series from the media firm, which also owns radio stations such as Capital and LBC. Unmissable tends to focus on crime investigations.
McCormick was convicted on three counts of fraud after selling fake bomb detectors
McCormick was convicted on three counts of fraud after selling fake bomb detectors
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McCormick was convicted on three counts of fraud after selling fake bomb detectors(Image: Getty Images)
It is centred around a former close friend of McCormick, named only as Steve in the series to protect his identity. In the podcast, Steve revealed he first met McCormick in 1965 when the American moved to Anfield as a child with his mum.
They both went to the same school and Steve quickly became friends with McCormick. The pair made money as children by minding cars around Anfield stadium on match days.
The practice, which used to be common in areas around the ground, involved children offering to keep an eye out on the cars of match goers to 'prevent them being broken into or damaged', in return for a small amount of money.
Steve says he remained close friends with McCormick into adulthood, and the pair both trained up as officers in Merseyside Police.
But whereas Steve stayed in the force, McCormick moved back home to America to meet up again with his dad. They kept in touch, with McCormick telling him of the lavish lifestyle he had built up through a career in sales.
McCormick later moved back to the UK and settled in Somerset. It was as Steve approached retirement that McCormick introduced him to the fake bomb detectors.
McCormick seemed to prove the detectors worked in tests at an army base, with the swivelling antenna pointing in the direction of test bombs that had been placed down.
After Steve retired from the force, he ended up accompanying McCormick on trips abroad where he made deals to sell these detectors. But Steve claims he turned against McCormick after military officials told him the bomb detectors didn’t actually work.
According to the podcast McCormick insisted to Steve that the devices worked but Steve didn't believe him. Steve said he then tried to raise the issue repeatedly with UK government departments. The Department of Trade and Industry promoted a device McCormick based his fake bomb detector on, but no action was taken. This was echoed by BBC journalists in the podcast who investigated the case.
Steve then set-up an anonymous online blog attempting to expose McCormick. But, despite assisting the investigation into McCormick from Avon and Somerset Police when it was launched in the late 2000s, he was arrested himself and questioned at St Helens police station in 2011 about his knowledge of McCormick’s fraud. He was placed on bail for around a year before being released with no further action.
James McCormick arriving at the Old Bailey in central London during his trial in 2013
James McCormick arriving at the Old Bailey in central London during his trial in 2013(Image: PA)
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In response to Steve's claims, Detective Niki White from the force said: “In a large investigation such as this, any decision to arrest a person is reviewed by the senior investigating officer.
“This decision considers all relevant material available at the time. It’s for the police to determine the potential risks of the decision of an arrest to the potential benefits of the investigation and any subsequent trial.
“As in all cases, any person who is arrested and released from bail NFA (no further action) can, if they choose, make a witness statement. Steve did not do this.
“Police use of bail, and especially retaining suspects on extended bail, has been subject to review since the time of this investigation. There are now far tighter controls and scrutiny of the management and timing of the use of police bail.”
When approached for comment, the Department for Business and Trade referred the podcast to a statement to UK Trade and Investment released 2014, in which it argued it could not have known the government was backing a scam.
They said: “It is right that, in some circumstances, UK trade and investment will seek reimbursement for promotion and advisory services.
“When UK Trade and Investment becomes aware that a company has to act fraudulently, it will withdraw its support and will refer matters to the appropriate authorities.
“UK Trade and Investment cannot undertake a test or assessment of all products and services for any business it supports.”
The podcast approached McCormick to talk about his crimes.