The United Nations paid £46,000 to a businessman for bomb detectors which were 'not fit for purpose', a court heard yesterday.
Belgian police also handed over £12,800 for a similar device to find drugs only to find it never worked, the court heard.
Jim McCormick, 56, allegedly used technology found in a £13 novelty golf ball finder to create devices priced at up to £27,000. Superintendent Theiry Meunier of the Belgian police told the Old Bailey it never produced results.
Five similar devices were bought by the United Nations in Lebanon to detect explosives in cars, the court heard.
McCormick's company then pitched to get an order for another 80 units. He was asked to provide evidence of the effectiveness of the kit, but suggested the United Nations did its own research.
Over two days a series of tests were carried out in a car park at the UN headquarters in Lebanon and the product was found to be "not fit for purpose" in an official report
McCormick, of Hambridge, Langport, Somerset, who also owns a property in The Circus, Bath, denies three counts of making an article for use in fraud.
The trial continues.
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