Jonathan Richman, of no fixed address, spent four years between 2011 and 2015 pretending to be an agent dealing in cheap last-minute holidays.

But Richman was really pocketing his clients money while paying for the holidays using fraudulent credit card details. The Metropolitan Police said this had cost travel companies “thousands of pounds” after the card companies spotted the fraudulent payments and recovered the money.

Two of Richman’s clients were even arrested as they returned to Heathrow from a holiday in Thailand because they were suspected of using fraudulent card details before it became apparent that they were victims of Richman’s crimes.

Richman was sentenced to a total of two years in prison at Isleworth Crown Court on October 6 after previously pleading guilty to a series of fraud and money laundering offences adding up to more than £80,000.

The Met said Richman also “made threats against one of the investigating officers” in the case. He was finally arrested at Gatwick as he was preparing to take a flight to Morocco.

The police added that there were 16 companies or people who were victims of Richman’s actions.

Detective sergeant Dave Bullamore, from the Met’s Aviation Policing Command, said: “Richman was carrying out these frauds effectively as a full time occupation. He went to great lengths to try and conceal his true identity, right from renting a flat under a false name to setting up fake bank accounts.

“But his arrogance proved to be his downfall when he called the detectives to threaten and warn them off from investigating him.

“After some fantastic detective work, we were finally able to match his face to his true identity and arrest him, and despite his attempts to go on the run and evade justice, he is now facing further time behind bars.”