Notorious stock swindler Jordan Belfort claims he's a reformed man
Jordan Belfort, notorious stock swindler turned business consultant, these days says 'fraud is not something you want to be good at'
Jordan Belfort insists he's a changed man.
The old Belfort was a notorious stock swindler who squandered profits from a boiler-room "pump and dump" scheme while indulging in cocaine, prostitutes and other excesses - a story that became the basis for two memoirs and The Wolf of Wall Street, an upcoming movie starring Leonardo DeCaprio.
The new Belfort is a business consultant who claims he would never tell a lie and frets over recent suggestions that he may be avoiding payments on US$110 million in restitution by hiding his profits from the book and movie deals.
"It's very strange being accused of something I wouldn't have done in a million years," the 51-year-old Belfort said. "It's so not where my head is at."
I was always taking great efforts to cover my tracks. It was … exhausting
In early October, prosecutors asked a US federal judge in Brooklyn to find Belfort in default, saying he had paid only US$11.6 million of the US$110 million he owes as restitution for a securities fraud and money laundering conviction. They have since withdrawn the request to see if a settlement can be worked out - but not before a wave of bad press portraying Belfort as a deadbeat.