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投资理财

“华尔街之狼”欠钱不还,绝对没有电影里那般光鲜

彭博社 2018年05月31日

检察官称,“华尔街之狼”乔丹·贝尔福特不仅是个骗子,还赖了很多账,他们希望贝尔福特尽快还钱。

华尔街前经纪人,外号“华尔街之狼”的乔丹·贝尔福特曾因担任Stratton Oakmont首席执行官期间从事证券诈骗入狱。他写过一本《华尔街之狼》,讲述自己的经历。图片来源:David Howells—Corbis via Getty Images

可能有人已经想不起贝尔福特是哪位,他之前在纽约长岛开了一家专炒低价股的公司,叫Stratton Oakmont。2013年,莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥根据他的自传出演电影,片中将他的所作所为美化了一番。电影票房约1亿美元,后来贝尔福特借此开启事业第二春,当上了励志演说家。

2003年获刑后,贝尔福特被判处偿还并支付罚金共计1.104亿美元,政府表示他仍欠9700万美元。检察官投诉后于5月初举办了听证会,纽约布鲁克林的美国地区法官安·唐纳利明确表示,贝尔福特应履行缴纳欠款的义务。

“看起来贝尔福特有些闲钱。”唐纳利表示,她还补充说检察官有权对贝尔福特的收入提出问题。

“如果打扰到他繁忙的日程就不好意思了,”法官表示。“他得亲自来一趟,我们才能把事情弄清楚。”

贝尔福特的律师正与检察官纠缠法律上的技术细节,争论对象是他的收入是否应用于还债。

检方在法庭文件中表示,2007年到2009年间贝尔福特向受害人支付了约70万美元,但2010年一文未付;检方还称,他还支付了1280万美元,主要通过判决时放弃部分财产。贝尔福特和代理律师莎伦·科恩·莱文对政府列出的数字和他要偿还的债务提出异议。

如果希望看到贝尔福特在法庭上闪亮出场,可能要失望了,另外提一下,这次传唤的法庭正是当年他接受审判的地方。他缺席是因为要去立陶宛做一场励志演讲。

科恩·莱文宣称贝尔福特“很缺钱”。她表示,争议收入之一是一家创业公司的股份,可能“毫无价值”,也可能“价值巨大”。她表示相关股份不应强制执行偿还债务。

付款

2008年4月贝尔福特获释出狱。他的罪名是诈骗1513位投资者,涉案金额超过2亿美元,因此服刑四年。法庭还要求他出狱后将收入的50%用于偿还受害人。

2007年4月政府律师听说贝尔福特的回忆录即将出版,立刻对出版商Bantam Books、华纳兄弟电影公司,以及迪卡普里奥创办的电影制作公司Appian Way申请了禁止令。最后贝尔福特同意用电影收入的50%还钱,但最近关于他励志演讲和其他业务的收入又引发争议。

检察官表示2013年到2015年间贝尔福特演讲至少收入900万美元,但都私藏起来。检方称他还通过建筑设计业务获得了一些收入。

2014年,贝尔福特在一次全球巡回演讲中表示,希望通过不断讲述“个人救赎”赚到“1亿美元以上”,然后就能补偿受害者。

“如果能把所有债还清,我就会感觉好很多。”当时他说。“我的目标是尽我所能还钱,这也是持续成功的一种形式。”(BT365的网址是多少)

译者:Charlie

审稿:夏林

For those who’ve forgotten, Belfort operated a penny-stock boiler room on New York’s Long Island called Stratton Oakmont Inc. His brash behavior was glorified on screen by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie based on Belfort’s memoir. The 2013 film made about $100 million and helped start Belfort’s second career as a motivational speaker.

At his sentencing in 2003, Belfort was ordered to pay $110.4 million in restitution and other penalties, but the government says he still owes about $97 million. At a hearing in earlier May after prosecutors complained, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn, New York, said Belfort must meet his obligations.

“It seems like he has some spare change lying around,” Donnelly said, adding that Belfort should be questioned by prosecutors about his income.

“Sorry to interrupt his busy schedule,” she said. “He’s going to have to come here so we can get a grip on what’s going on.”

Belfort’s lawyers and prosecutors are tussling over legal technicalities concerning whether income he’s received is subject to garnishment.

Prosecutors say in court papers that Belfort paid about $700,000 to victims between 2007 to 2009, and nothing in 2010; he has also paid $12.8 million, mainly from property he relinquished at sentencing, they say. Belfort and his lawyer, Sharon Cohen Levin, dispute the government’s numbers and what he must pay.

Anyone who hoped Belfort would make a cameo appearance — at the same courthouse where he was sentenced –was disappointed. He was scheduled to be in Lithuania giving a motivational speech.

Cohen Levin argued that Belfort is “cash-strapped.” One of the payments in dispute, ownership units in a startup, may be of “no value” or “may be of extraordinary value,” she said. She argued the shares weren’t subject to the restitution order.

Paying Up

Belfort was released from prison in April 2008. He was convicted of defrauding 1,513 investors out of more than $200 million and sentenced to four years behind bars. He was also ordered to pay 50 percent of his gross income to victims after he was freed.

When government lawyers learned of the deal to publish Belfort’s memoir in April 2007, they filed restraining orders against Bantam Books, Warner Brothers and Appian Way, a film production company founded by DiCaprio. Belfort eventually agreed to pay 50 percent of his earnings from the movie to the U.S., but another dispute recently erupted over Belfort’s income as a motivational speaker and other dealings.

Prosecutors say Belfort earned at least $9 million in speaking engagements between 2013 and 2015 but pocketed it all. He has also collected other income from a building-design business, they claim.

In 2014, during a global speaking tour, Belfort said he hoped to earn “north of $100 million” by giving speeches about his “redemption,” which would allow him to repay victims.

“Once everyone is paid back, believe me I will feel a lot better,” he said at the time. “My goal is to give more than I get, that’s a sustainable form of success.”

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