Gary Bolton: Conman who made £3.5m selling fake bomb detectors jailed for seven years
20 Aug 2013 17:47
He flogged the phoney devices for up to £15,000 each, boasting they could detect explosives, narcotics, ivory and even money
Jailed: Gary Bolton
A conman who made more than £3.5million selling fake bomb detectors has been jailed for seven years.
Gary Bolton flogged the phoney devices for up to £15,000 each, boasting they could detect explosives, narcotics, ivory and even money.
A judge at the Old Bailey today described the dodgy equipment – which was used by armed forces – as “useless” and “dross”, yet the 47-year-old still continued to “peddle” it around the world.
The GT200 devices were no more than boxes with handles and antennae that dad-of-three Bolton cobbled together at his home in Chatham, Kent, for less than £5 each.
The jury heard how Bolton claimed the devices worked with a range of 766 yards on the ground and 2.5 miles in the air – yet a Home Office defence expert said it had no credibility as an explosive detector.
Gary Bolton's fake devices
Passing sentence, judge Richard Hone QC said: “They were useless.
"Soldiers, police officers and many others put their trust in a device which worked no better than random chance.
"You knew this but you carried on. Your profits were enormous.”
Bolton’s company, Global Technical Ltd, had a turnover of almost £3million, with up to 5,000 devices made.
Police believe he made at least £3.5million from the scam, which saw GT200s shipped to Mexico, Asia and the Middle East. It is thought some are still being used in Thailand.
Bolton, who denied two counts of fraud, was arrested in 2010.
The sentence comes after his former business partner, James McCormick, was jailed for 10 years for selling fake bomb detectors.
The 57-year-old was said to have made £50million from the con.
