The $200 Million Phone Scam That Cost 22 Months

Quick answer: The Wolf of Wall Street true story is the case of Jordan Belfort, who ran the Long Island brokerage Stratton Oakmont. He pleaded guilty in 1999 to securities fraud and money laundering charges. A federal judge sentenced him to 42 months and $110.4 million in restitution. He served 22 months and most of it remains unpaid, according to the government.

The Wolf of Wall Street true story starts in a phone room on Long Island. Jordan Belfort ran Stratton Oakmont, which Bloomberg described as “a penny-stock boiler room on New York’s Long Island,” in a 2018 report. At its peak the firm employed more than 1,000 brokers, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Prosecutors later said Belfort and others manipulated the stock of at least 34 companies and cost investors more than $200 million, according to a Wayne Law Review study of the case.

The court record is less glamorous than the film. Belfort pleaded guilty in 1999, cooperated with prosecutors and in 2003 was sentenced to 42 months in prison, the sentencing judge later wrote. He served about 22 months. He was ordered to repay $110,362,993.87 to his victims, and a federal court found in 2018 that he had paid $12,843,845.19, according to the court’s order. Here is what the court files say happened, from the sales floor to the restitution fight.

â–¶ Prefer to watch? See the full documentary, The $200 Million Phone Scam That Cost 22 Months. Free on YouTube.

Is The Wolf of Wall Street a True Story?

Yes, in its foundations. The 2013 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio is based on Belfort’s own memoir, The Wolf of Wall Street, Bloomberg noted, and the core facts are on the public record: a real brokerage, a real guilty plea, a real prison sentence and a restitution order that is still largely unpaid. A federal judge described the memoir as “the basis for a motion picture,” in a 2018 order.

But a film is a dramatization, not a court record. Scenes and dialogue in a movie are shaped for the screen. In this file we use only what courts, regulators and major news outlets have documented, and we attribute Belfort’s own claims to him.

What Was Stratton Oakmont?

Stratton Oakmont was a brokerage firm based at 1979 Marcus Avenue in Lake Success, New York, on Long Island, SEC records show. Daniel M. Porush was its president and a director. Belfort, who ran the firm with Porush, was described by Bloomberg as the operator of “a penny-stock boiler room,” a term for high-pressure telephone sales of risky stocks.

Regulators were on the firm’s case for years. NASD Regulation officials said Stratton had been involved in 12 disciplinary cases since June 1989, and the SEC had won a $2.5 million settlement in 1994 after suing the firm over fraudulent sales practices, the Los Angeles Times reported.

How the Pump and Dump Worked

A pump and dump has two parts, the SEC explains on Investor.gov. First, promoters push up the price of a stock with false or misleading statements. Then they sell their own shares into the rising market. When the selling stops and the hype ends, the price typically falls, “and investors lose their money.”

A federal judge summed up one of Belfort’s schemes in 2018. Belfort and Porush held interests in two companies, Dollar Time Group and Aquanatural. They opened a Swiss bank account and smuggled cash into it to finance illicit trades. They had millions of shares issued at below-market prices to their own offshore entities, which they falsely claimed were owned by foreign individuals. They encouraged customers to buy the stock to create inflated demand, then sold their stock back into the US marketplace, “reaping substantial profits,” according to the court.

If you want the difference between this and a Ponzi scheme: a pump and dump inflates the price of a real stock and dumps it on buyers, while a Ponzi scheme pays old investors with new investors’ money. Our guide to Ponzi schemes explains the second kind.

The Regulators Close In: Expelled in 1996

On December 5, 1996, the National Association of Securities Dealers expelled Stratton Oakmont, The Washington Post reported. “This firm has time after time after time shown a total disregard for its customers and for the integrity of the marketplace,” said Mary L. Schapiro, president of the NASD’s regulatory arm, The New York Times reported.

The NASD censured the firm, fined it $500,000 and ordered it to pay $416,528.77 in restitution plus interest, according to the SEC order issued the next day. It found that Stratton had charged excessive and fraudulent markups on warrants of a company called Master Glazier’s Karate International. Porush was barred from the industry in any capacity and fined $250,000. The SEC refused to pause the expulsion while it reviewed the case, citing “the danger to the investing public.”

Charges, Guilty Plea and Cooperation

In September 1998, Belfort was charged with securities fraud and money laundering, the court record shows. A grand jury charged Porush, Belfort and others over their activities at Stratton Oakmont over a period starting in 1991, according to a 2005 trustee filing. In 1999 Belfort pleaded guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering, and manipulative and deceptive devices.

He then cooperated with the government. Judge John Gleeson wrote in 2014 that Belfort testified before him twice and that his cooperation was central to the decisions of a number of other defendants to plead guilty, in a memorandum and order. As part of their plea agreements, Belfort and Porush forfeited properties worth an estimated $11 million, federal prosecutors told the court in 2013.

Jordan Belfort Prison Time: 42 Months Ordered, 22 Months Served

Judge Gleeson sentenced Belfort on July 18, 2003, according to the US Attorney’s Office, to 42 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered restitution of $110,362,993.87, as the judge later recorded. A related case was sentenced the same day with a concurrent six-month term, the court docket shows. Some newspapers at the time rounded the sentence to four years, as Newsday did.

He served about 22 months, the New York Post reported, at a federal prison camp in Taft, California, according to the Wayne Law Review. Prosecutors told the court he was released on or about April 28, 2006, and that his supervised release ended around April 2009, in their 2013 letter.

Date	Event	Source
June 1989 onward	12 disciplinary cases involving Stratton Oakmont	Los Angeles Times
1994	SEC wins a $2.5 million settlement against the firm	Los Angeles Times
December 5, 1996	NASD expels Stratton Oakmont; Porush barred	SEC order
September 1998	Belfort charged with securities fraud and money laundering	US District Court, 2018
1999	Guilty plea; cooperation with prosecutors	US District Court, 2018
July 18, 2003	Sentenced to 42 months; $110.4 million restitution	US Attorney, 2013
April 28, 2006 (about)	Released from prison	US Attorney, 2013
April 2007	Government serves restraining notices over the memoir deal	US Attorney, 2013
2011	Film rights sold for $1,045,000	US Attorney, 2013
November 30, 2018	Court allows garnishment of his interest in Delos Living	US District Court, 2018

How Much Did Jordan Belfort Steal, and How Much Has He Paid Back?

Two figures get mixed up. The more than $200 million is the loss prosecutors alleged for the whole scheme, as cited in the Wayne Law Review. The $110,362,993.87 is what the court ordered Belfort personally to repay. He is jointly liable for it with Porush and another defendant, and Porush was separately ordered to pay $200,425,851.31, federal prosecutors told the court.

Figure	What it measures	Source
More than $200 million	Investor losses alleged by prosecutors	Wayne Law Review
$110,362,993.87	Restitution ordered against Belfort	Judge Gleeson, 2014
$200,425,851.31	Restitution ordered against Porush	US Attorney, 2013
About $11.2 million	Forfeited funds a trustee paid out to 1,513 victims	US Attorney, 2013
$11,629,143.64	Total Belfort had paid by October 2013	US Attorney, 2013
$12,843,845.19	Total Belfort had paid by November 2018	US District Court, 2018

Most of what has been paid came from forfeited property. A court-appointed trustee distributed nearly $11.2 million to 1,513 victims, prosecutors wrote in 2013. After learning of his book deal in April 2007, the government served restraining notices on Bantam Books, Warner Brothers and Appian Way, and reached an agreement to receive half of what Belfort was owed. In 2011, Red Granite Productions bought the film rights to his two memoirs for $1,045,000, of which Belfort received $940,500.

The two sides have disagreed about what he owes since then. In 2013, prosecutors told the court that Belfort took the position that he was no longer bound by the order to pay 50% of his income once his supervised release ended. In 2018, Bloomberg reported that the government said he still owed about $97 million, and that Belfort and his lawyer disputed the government’s numbers, according to Bloomberg. That November, Judge Ann Donnelly granted the government a writ of garnishment over his company’s interest in Delos Living and rejected his claim of exemption, the order shows.

Belfort has said he wants to repay his victims. “Once everyone is paid back, believe me I will feel a lot better,” he said during a 2014 speaking tour, Bloomberg reported. Judge Gleeson wrote in 2014 that Belfort still owed his victims “over $100 million.”

What Happened to Stratton Oakmont and Its Founders?

Stratton Oakmont was shut out of the industry by the 1996 expulsion. Belfort rebuilt himself as a motivational speaker and author, selling products that draw on his reputation as “The Wolf of Wall Street,” the 2018 court order notes. He has published three books. Danny Porush, the firm’s president, was barred by the NASD in 1996 and, like Belfort, entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, court filings show.

Stratton’s story sits alongside other investment frauds in our files, from the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme to the 777 Partners case.

How to Spot a Pump and Dump Today

The SEC warns that these schemes often run online now, through messages urging people to buy a stock quickly and promoters claiming “inside” information, on Investor.gov. Warning signs to watch for:

• Pressure to buy now. Stratton’s brokers sold by phone; today the same push comes through social media and messaging apps.
• Tiny, little-known companies. Penny stocks with low trading volume are easier to move.
• Unsolicited tips. A stranger with a hot stock tip is a red flag.
• Trouble selling. If a broker discourages you from selling, ask why.
• Unregistered sellers. Check any broker on FINRA BrokerCheck before you invest.

This article is for education only and is not financial advice.

The Wolf of Wall Street True Story: FAQ

The Verdict

Strip away the film and the Wolf of Wall Street true story is a court file. A brokerage regulators kept disciplining, a pump and dump run through offshore accounts, a guilty plea and cooperation, 42 months ordered and about 22 served, and a $110.4 million restitution order of which roughly $12.8 million had been paid by 2018. The phones are silent now. The debt is still on the docket.

More files you should read

Billion-Dollar ScamsCharles Ponzi: The 50% Promise That Broke Boston’s BanksBillion-Dollar ScamsJosh Wander’s $500M Fraud: Inside the 777 Partners CollapseBillion-Dollar ScamsRuja Ignatova and OneCoin: The $4 Billion Cryptocurrency That Never ExistedBillion-Dollar ScamsEnron Scandal: 47 Days That Erased $63 Billion at Enron

More Documentaries

Documentary · October 30, 2026Orkut: The Network That Lost Two Countries (opens YouTube in a new tab)Documentary · October 30, 2026Sears: The Retail Giant That Died (opens YouTube in a new tab)Documentary · October 30, 2026Vine: The 18 Stars Who Asked for $21.6 Million (opens YouTube in a new tab)Documentary · October 30, 2026MySpace: The Internet Pioneer That Vanished (opens YouTube in a new tab)

See all documentaries