Jody Oliver Wiki
Jody Oliver Biography
Who is Jody Oliver ?
An “experienced con man” who posed as a cruise ship captain to sell bogus luxury vacations to friends and family has been jailed.
Jody Oliver, 44, dressed in a P&O naval suit to swindle victims out of £320,000 by offering cruises that didn’t exist.
Scammer ‘Walter Mitty’ created a fake ID under the name of Captain Jonathan Flynn Oliver.
He made up fictitious ship’s officer names to convince customers he was the real deal.
Oliver used the money to live a double life, cheating on his wife with a longtime boyfriend who had no idea he was married.
Newport Crown Court heard that his victims included friends who had put their entire life savings into one of his once-in-a-lifetime exotic cruises.
Oliver, a father
Oliver, a father of three, who has a criminal record for carrying out audacious fraud, was jailed for six years.
Prosecutor Andrew Davies said: “Mr Oliver was at the center of an intricate web of lies and deceit. He was an experienced con man.
‘He didn’t care who he hurt. He cheated and lied to those whom he professed to love.
He ‘used false names and job descriptions to get money and live a life he couldn’t afford.’
The court heard that his partner Rhys Burgess believed he was a top executive at Jaguar LandRover and had no idea he was married with three children.
Davies said, “I was living two fantasy lives, neither of which I could support on legitimate income.
“He started out posing as a cruise ship captain offering luxury cruises to exotic locales at a fraction of the price of those obtained from a travel agency.
“He created the aura of a cruise ship captain through a variety of means including dressing up as a ship captain when he met with people to discuss possible cruises.
“Then the vacation was canceled due to ‘security issues’ abroad or problems with the cruise ship.”
Former police special constable Oliver used the Alma pub in Newport as his base to sell the non-existent Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises.
He was heavily in debt and had lost over £130,000 gambling and had taken out crippling high-interest loans to try to stay afloat.
Jody Oliver Quick and Facts
- Jody Oliver, 44, dressed up as a P&O captain to con his victims out of £320,000
- Court heard Oliver is an experienced conman with long history of running scams
- He was jailed for six years after admitting fraud charges at Newport Crown Court
