A Walter Mitty character who was known to British authorities under 23 aliases has been jailed for two years.

The man, whose real name remains a mystery, was found with a bogus British passport and a bag full of cash when he was detained by police in Bermuda.

Officers descended on his home in Hamilton on July 16 and discovered the passport in the name of Alfred Alva Thompson in a suitcase, as well as a bag in the closet containing $63,700.

He at first refused to tell police his name, then claimed to be Mr Thompson but remained mute during a formal interview. Further inquiries revealed that he had 23 aliases in the UK.

Appearing in Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, he gave the name Billy Odoch and claimed to be a Uganda national.

He was due to stand trial for a number of charges alleging possession of false passports and money laundering.

Odoch had denied the offences at previous court appearances, but changed his plea at the last minute and admitted possessing a false British passport with intent to induce others to accept it as genuine between December 22, 2013 and July 16, and dishonestly obtaining a Bermuda passport between August 2, 2010 and June 14, 2013.

The Crown accepted his plea and did not proceed on the other charges, which included having custody or control of a false British passport without lawful authority between December 22, 2013 and July 16, tendering a false declaration to obtain a Bermuda passport on August 2, 2010, using an irregular Bermuda passport between August 7, 2010, and June 14, 2013 and possessing $63,700, which represented in whole or in part the proceeds of illegal activity, on July 16 this year.

Although the Crown dropped the money laundering charge, prosecutor Alan Richards said this will proceed in a civil matter.

The conviction brought to an end a bizarre chronology of events that began on July 20, when the defendant first appeared in court and answered to the name Alfred Alva Thompson.

Mr Richards said at the time that the man’s identity was not known, with the courts only being sure that he was not Mr Thompson because there was only one Mr Thompson with that name living in Bermuda and he had never travelled abroad or applied for a passport.

At his second court appearance on July 29, Odoch’s identity was still uncertain, with alternate names William Gates and Watson Ogon listed on the charge sheet.

It was also revealed that he was known to British authorities under 23 different aliases.

On Wednesday, the court heard that when the police officers attended Odoch’s residence with a search warrant, he did not give his name and refused to answer questions without a lawyer present. However, during the search he said: “Boss, if you want my name it’s in my suitcase.”

The officers recovered the British passport and Odoch told them that he was a Bermudian citizen.

But he said he didn’t have a driver’s licence on him and that his Bermuda passport was in the UK.

When he was asked to confirm his date of birth, he said: “Why are you asking me if you have my passport right there. I was born in ‘68. You are asking me silly questions.”

After being taken to Hamilton Police Station, however, he told officers that he was 45 years old and born in 1976.

And when he appeared before magistrate Archibald Warner, he said he was born in 1974.

Mr Richards told the court that his true identity still remains unclear.

Mr Warner sentenced Odoch to two years in prison on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Time already served will not be taken into account.