A bogus cruise ship captain who conned holidaymakers out of £272,000 has been ordered to pay back just £350 - after blowing the rest of the money.
Jody Oliver, 45, lied that he was captain of a luxury cruise liner to offer cut-price holidays with Carnival Cruises.
He even dressed as a captain, made a fake lanyard and sent emails to himself from fake accounts claiming to be from employees at Carnival PLC.
The court heard Oliver also sent his unsuspecting victims excursion sheets asking for £35 per excursion to be transferred to him for the bogus Mediterranean trips.
But the court heard Oliver splurged his cash on online gambling while also taking out pay day loans.
A court heard he had only £350 left to pay back to his victims.
Among his victims were people who have lost their savings after believing they had booked "once-in-a-lifetime holidays".
The "Walter Mitty" swindler would go to extraordinary lengths to maintain the ruse and would dress up as a P&O captain to deceive them.
Some of those he targeted were pensioners who lost the savings they had been building up for years.
One of his victims, Christine Evans, said: “I have not told my sons how much money I’ve lost as a result of the dealings of Mr Oliver.
“But with me it’s not just about the money – I feel responsible for getting others involved.
“We are all hard working people and for someone like Mr Oliver to do this, to do it to so many people with no feelings, makes my blood boil. I still have very bad days myself for getting my family and friends involved with this evil man.
“Hopefully this will be the last time he will be able to do this.”
Fellow victim Marshall Goddard who said: “I feel that the whole episode has had a profound effect on my wife’s health and she now gets very anxious about little things that have never bothered her before.
“As we are OAPs we can ill afford to lose this amount of money and it means a lot to us.”
Moira Mercer’s statement read: “It is difficult to express the range of emotions we had when learning the extent of Oliver’s activities.
“Anger at being duped so easily, humiliation in talking to others about financial loss and sadness that an individual can look you in your eye while knowing they are stealing people's hard-earned money.
“This was the money we had saved over many years to give us holiday enjoyment and for our retirement beyond. He has destroyed our faith in human nature.”
Centred around the Alma Inn pub in Newport where he socialised, he began offering free cruises to his circle as "perks of the job" before moving on to sell them at bargain prices.
Prosecutor Andrew Davies said: "His ploy was to offer luxurious cruises to exotic places at a fraction of the price."
The court heard Oliver offered 16 friends and family free cruises to take place in November - including to fiancee Ryan Burgess' mum and grandmother.
Mr Davies added: "He used different names and job descriptions to obtain money and to live a life that he could not afford.
"He was living two separate fantasy lives, neither of which he could sustain with legitimate income."
The court heard the alarm was raised with police when victims were left waiting for transport for a bogus trip on December 2018.
Mr Davies said: "They were left with packed bags waiting for transport to the airport for their cruise which never arrived."
The victims were hoping for sun-kissed Mediterranean cruises - not realising the smooth-talking ship skipper was actually a convicted fraudster.
Former police special constable Oliver even showed off his bogus captains uniform to con the cruise customers.
Oliver was charged with six counts of fraud by false representation after convincing at least nine people in the Newport area that he was a cruise ship captain.
He promised deals on holidays between January 1, 2018, and January 2, 2019.
The court heard he was leading a double life - with his wife in Bwlch, Powys, in midweek and with his fiancee Mr Burgess on weekends.
Oliver, who is a convicted fraudster and used his tricks to fund his lifestyle, pleaded guilty to fraud and breach of bail.
Judge Richard Williams jailed him for six years and one month.
He said Oliver used the money to manage debts caused by his "freeloading lifestyle."
He added: "You devastated not only your immediate family but all those involved in this case."
At a proceeds of crime hearing held at Cardiff Crown Court he was ordered to hand over the compensation within three months or face an extra month in prison.
