Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption 'Bomb detector' maker Jim McCormick faces fraud charges

A businessman who sold a bomb-detecting device to 20 countries, including Iraq, has been charged with fraud, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Jim McCormick, 55, has been on bail for two-and-a-half years while police examined the sale of the device.

A BBC Newsnight investigation in 2010 showed the ADE-651 did not work and led to the British government banning its export to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr McCormick will appear at City of London Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Avon and Somerset Police said that Mr McCormick would face six charges including producing and supplying the devices, knowing that they were designed or adapted for use in fraud.

The device had been sold to a range of Middle-Eastern countries and as far afield as Bangkok.

The Iraqi government spent $85m (£52m) on the hand-held detectors which were used at most checkpoints in Baghdad.

Watch Caroline Hawley's full report on BBC 2's Newsnight on Wednesday 11 July 2012 at 2230 BST. Or watch afterwards on BBC iPlayer.