A BOGUS cruise ship captain who conned holidaymakers out of £300,000 has been ordered to pay back just £1 in his latest fraud con.

Serial conman 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.

Over the years Oliver had also posed as an airline pilot, car salesman and a drinking buddy of former PM Boris Johnson.

Oliver also sent his unsuspecting victims excursion sheets asking for £35 per excursion to be transferred to him for the bogus Mediterranean trips.

But Oliver splurged his cash on online gambling while also taking out pay day loans.

His criminal victims weren't the only people he conned - as he had a double life living with his unsuspecting wife and children during the week and a boyfriend at weekends.

Serial fraudster Oliver had been ordered to pay back £350 in May this year or face extra jail time - but the figure did not include all his frauds.

A court heard he now had no money left - and was ordered to repay a nominal fee of just £1.

Among his victims were people who have lost their savings after believing they had booked "once-in-a-lifetime holidays".

The "Walter Mitty-style" swindler would go to extraordinary lengths to maintain the ruse and would dress up as a P&O captain to deceive them.

His sentencing hearing last year was told that some of those he targeted were pensioners who lost the savings.

Victim 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.”

Centred around the Alma Inn pub in Newport where he socialised, Oliver 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.

"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."

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 pleaded guilty to fraud and breach of bail.

Judge Richard Williams jailed him for six years and one month last August.