The story of the ADE651 and ATSC, has now become the background for a book. Below is just a small selection from the book:
Bad Dogs, Running
By James Ward
Book five in the series: Bob Steck, the adventures of a spymaster
Copyright 2011 By James A. Ward
“The bad guy and mastermind is Jim McTavish, CEO of a company called ATCC Ltd. (who could this be?) His accomplice is the marketing guy who actually pitches the scam, his brother Roger. That’s Roger’s picture on the right.”
“After this meeting,” interjected Lindsley,“you will need to get briefed by Naval Security. They expect you this afternoon.”
Steck nodded. He made a mental note to have two of his guys join him for that briefing.
Greg continued, “ATCC started out as a front for illegal arms trade. A couple of years ago, when the Joint task force to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices was doling out money to any company with an idea how to save lives in Iraq, Jim McTavish approached them with a device that he claimed could detect explosives from a distance. The Army bought some of them to try out but after testing the devices decided the scheme had no technical merit. Later, McTavish protested that he had created an engineering and manufacturing company that developed a new and improved version of the system which performed well, but the Army chose not to go any further. Undaunted, the McTavish brothers set up manufacturing in England, moving away from arms trade to the more lucrative military systems business.
The difference between ATCC and legitimate firms like BAE and Lockheed-Martin is that the so-called high tech products of ATCC don’t work. This is where the guy on screen came in. Roger McTavish created a sales pitch and quickly sold a bunch of systems to several third world countries. ATCC’s bogus systems have been used to legitimize the theft of millions from the coffers of third rate military establishments.
Here’s how it works; Roger McTavish identifies corrupt men with power over defense or security budgets and offers enormous bribes in return for orders placed on ATCC for high tech electronic ‘black boxes.’ The boxes are manufactured by ATCC and delivered to the buying countries as promised. The problem is that the boxes do not perform as advertised. Ashamed at being duped, the corrupt ministers usually cover up the whole scheme. In some cases, greed brings the most corrupt ones back for successive purchases of bogus equipment, all at considerable personal gain.(Sound like anyone we know? General Jabiri, perhaps?)
The problem is that every once in a while some legitimate business man or do-gooder tries to expose and spoil the schemes of the McTavish brothers. (Thank you for the acknowledgement) That’s where Roche and others like him come in. There’s always a smart former security operative turned soldier of fortune ready to dispose of such situations. Stig Ahmdahl was one of those situations. Paul Roche was the solution.
“What is this bogus system?” Steck asked.
“It’s called ASD-200 ,(surely they cannot be talking about the ADE651)
” Greg continued, clicking to the next slide. The slide showed a photo of an Iraqi security guard holding a black handle that looked like a pistol grip with a hole in it. Through the hole was a right-angled rod. One end of the rod stuck out like the barrel of a pistol over the top of the grip. The other end protruded through the grip and pointed at the ground. From the bottom of the grip a piece of cable ran to connect with a ‘black box’ about the size of a small ice cooler. (sound familiar to readers of this blog?) Arrows and legends on the slide named some of the components of this odd looking system, such as battery pack, interconnect cable set, gripand electrostatic ion sensor.
“This thing is reminiscent of the divining rod contraptions used by some folks back in early times to find water,”announced Mort Lindsley. “I had an uncle who claimed he was a diviner. Fact is when I held his rods nothing ever happened. When Uncle Cletus took them himself and walked around a while, the son-of-a-gun would usually find some kind of water, even if it was a brook in plain sight of everybody. Having done this, ol’ Cletus would announce that the rods took him right to the water.”
Steck had to repress a chuckle at the blank stares Mort was getting from around the room.
Undaunted, Mort continued, “My daddy told us kids that Cletus was a little off in the head. He also admonished us not to make fun of him. I think that’s because daddy never could explain how Uncle Cletus found the spot to dig the well in our back yard. None of our neighbors could find enough water in those days, but that well in our yard still gives nice fresh water after more than fifty years.”
After a pause punctuated by ripples of tentative laughter Greg continued. “On this next slide you can see that the ASD-200 is claimed to be able to identify all sorts of contraband from close up or even at great distances.”
The slide proclaimed that the device can find guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, oil, water, human bodies and even contraband ivory at distances up to a kilometer, underground, through walls, underwater or even from airplanes flying at three thousand feet. This time Steck had to let his repressed chuckle come forth, more like a guffaw. “You mean it doesn’t double as a Geiger counter?” he blurted.
The academic in Greg Liss failed to appreciate Steck’s tone. Soberly he announced, “We have no reports that the manufacturer has made that claim.”
Steck rolled his eyes at Lindsley, who waved him off with a gesture.
Greg clicked to the next slide. “The claim by the scammers is that the system uses the so-called ‘science of electrostatic ion attraction’ as its basis of operation. They claim the theories are well supported in literature among engineers and scientists worldwide. However, the Army could find no such literature and ATCC Ltd has never furnished any theoretical proof of their claims. They have replied to queries that the technology of their device is proprietary and that they will not release it due to potential theft by competitors.”
Bob Steck leaned forward in his chair. He held out his hands palms up, as if to say ‘I don’t get it.’ “So who in the world is gullible enough to believe this rubbish?” (see previous lists) he asked.
“Here’s where the talents of Roger McTavish really come into play,” Susan Liss declared. “After he identifies and reels in his mark, usually some high placed cabinet minister who can be corrupted, he personally demonstrates the system to the mark. If the mark is suspicious, he trains someone of the mark’s choosing to use the system, usually with good results. The mark is convinced, starts the procurement cycle and the transaction takes place. From that point forward, the mark becomes complicit in the scheme and everybody is locked in.”
Steck had to repress a chuckle at the blank stares Mort was getting from around the room."
They say that fact is stranger than fiction, you really could not make this up. Read the full story at:
http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/47190/1/bad-dogs-running
The only thing missing from this story is the pathetic Police response. Considering how many people have died from this scam,there seems very little to show for nearly 3 years 'investigation'.
regards
Bad Dogs, Running
By James Ward
Book five in the series: Bob Steck, the adventures of a spymaster
Copyright 2011 By James A. Ward
“The bad guy and mastermind is Jim McTavish, CEO of a company called ATCC Ltd. (who could this be?) His accomplice is the marketing guy who actually pitches the scam, his brother Roger. That’s Roger’s picture on the right.”
“After this meeting,” interjected Lindsley,“you will need to get briefed by Naval Security. They expect you this afternoon.”
Steck nodded. He made a mental note to have two of his guys join him for that briefing.
Greg continued, “ATCC started out as a front for illegal arms trade. A couple of years ago, when the Joint task force to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices was doling out money to any company with an idea how to save lives in Iraq, Jim McTavish approached them with a device that he claimed could detect explosives from a distance. The Army bought some of them to try out but after testing the devices decided the scheme had no technical merit. Later, McTavish protested that he had created an engineering and manufacturing company that developed a new and improved version of the system which performed well, but the Army chose not to go any further. Undaunted, the McTavish brothers set up manufacturing in England, moving away from arms trade to the more lucrative military systems business.
The difference between ATCC and legitimate firms like BAE and Lockheed-Martin is that the so-called high tech products of ATCC don’t work. This is where the guy on screen came in. Roger McTavish created a sales pitch and quickly sold a bunch of systems to several third world countries. ATCC’s bogus systems have been used to legitimize the theft of millions from the coffers of third rate military establishments.
Here’s how it works; Roger McTavish identifies corrupt men with power over defense or security budgets and offers enormous bribes in return for orders placed on ATCC for high tech electronic ‘black boxes.’ The boxes are manufactured by ATCC and delivered to the buying countries as promised. The problem is that the boxes do not perform as advertised. Ashamed at being duped, the corrupt ministers usually cover up the whole scheme. In some cases, greed brings the most corrupt ones back for successive purchases of bogus equipment, all at considerable personal gain.(Sound like anyone we know? General Jabiri, perhaps?)
The problem is that every once in a while some legitimate business man or do-gooder tries to expose and spoil the schemes of the McTavish brothers. (Thank you for the acknowledgement) That’s where Roche and others like him come in. There’s always a smart former security operative turned soldier of fortune ready to dispose of such situations. Stig Ahmdahl was one of those situations. Paul Roche was the solution.
“What is this bogus system?” Steck asked.
“It’s called ASD-200 ,(surely they cannot be talking about the ADE651)
” Greg continued, clicking to the next slide. The slide showed a photo of an Iraqi security guard holding a black handle that looked like a pistol grip with a hole in it. Through the hole was a right-angled rod. One end of the rod stuck out like the barrel of a pistol over the top of the grip. The other end protruded through the grip and pointed at the ground. From the bottom of the grip a piece of cable ran to connect with a ‘black box’ about the size of a small ice cooler. (sound familiar to readers of this blog?) Arrows and legends on the slide named some of the components of this odd looking system, such as battery pack, interconnect cable set, gripand electrostatic ion sensor.
“This thing is reminiscent of the divining rod contraptions used by some folks back in early times to find water,”announced Mort Lindsley. “I had an uncle who claimed he was a diviner. Fact is when I held his rods nothing ever happened. When Uncle Cletus took them himself and walked around a while, the son-of-a-gun would usually find some kind of water, even if it was a brook in plain sight of everybody. Having done this, ol’ Cletus would announce that the rods took him right to the water.”
Steck had to repress a chuckle at the blank stares Mort was getting from around the room.
Undaunted, Mort continued, “My daddy told us kids that Cletus was a little off in the head. He also admonished us not to make fun of him. I think that’s because daddy never could explain how Uncle Cletus found the spot to dig the well in our back yard. None of our neighbors could find enough water in those days, but that well in our yard still gives nice fresh water after more than fifty years.”
After a pause punctuated by ripples of tentative laughter Greg continued. “On this next slide you can see that the ASD-200 is claimed to be able to identify all sorts of contraband from close up or even at great distances.”
The slide proclaimed that the device can find guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, oil, water, human bodies and even contraband ivory at distances up to a kilometer, underground, through walls, underwater or even from airplanes flying at three thousand feet. This time Steck had to let his repressed chuckle come forth, more like a guffaw. “You mean it doesn’t double as a Geiger counter?” he blurted.
The academic in Greg Liss failed to appreciate Steck’s tone. Soberly he announced, “We have no reports that the manufacturer has made that claim.”
Steck rolled his eyes at Lindsley, who waved him off with a gesture.
Greg clicked to the next slide. “The claim by the scammers is that the system uses the so-called ‘science of electrostatic ion attraction’ as its basis of operation. They claim the theories are well supported in literature among engineers and scientists worldwide. However, the Army could find no such literature and ATCC Ltd has never furnished any theoretical proof of their claims. They have replied to queries that the technology of their device is proprietary and that they will not release it due to potential theft by competitors.”
Bob Steck leaned forward in his chair. He held out his hands palms up, as if to say ‘I don’t get it.’ “So who in the world is gullible enough to believe this rubbish?” (see previous lists) he asked.
“Here’s where the talents of Roger McTavish really come into play,” Susan Liss declared. “After he identifies and reels in his mark, usually some high placed cabinet minister who can be corrupted, he personally demonstrates the system to the mark. If the mark is suspicious, he trains someone of the mark’s choosing to use the system, usually with good results. The mark is convinced, starts the procurement cycle and the transaction takes place. From that point forward, the mark becomes complicit in the scheme and everybody is locked in.”
Steck had to repress a chuckle at the blank stares Mort was getting from around the room."
They say that fact is stranger than fiction, you really could not make this up. Read the full story at:
http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/47190/1/bad-dogs-running
The only thing missing from this story is the pathetic Police response. Considering how many people have died from this scam,there seems very little to show for nearly 3 years 'investigation'.
regards
1 comment:
knew someone would use this as the basis for a story! Too good not to. Both incredible and real! Nice find techo. So thinly disguised is McTavish that everyone must know who he is ,...HELLO JIM McCORMICK. Hope it makes ya sick. Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy!!
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