Stock Scammer Hits Big

CRIME does pay. At least for Jordan Belfort, the stock scammer who ripped off investors for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund his coked-up, sex-fueled life of excess. Who thought his story would be turned into a movie?

Belfort, who used his "boiler room" Stratton Oakmont brokerage firm to fraudulently "pump and dump" stocks, ended up serving 22 months in the slammer. But he's on the fast track again. The Queens-born schemer just published "The Wolf of Wall Street," which has been optioned by Martin Scorsese. Belfort, who'll be played by Leonardo DiCaprio, will serve as consultant. And he's already pounding out a sequel. But during the years he was cooperating with the feds to convict many of his partners in crime, he lived like a king in Southampton, a few houses from Henry Kravis, and entertained lavishly at home while wearing an ankle monitor. Now he's even more comfortable in Southern California, although he doesn't see it that way. Belfort denied rumors he has tens of millions stashed away in the Cayman Islands and is secretly making more as a mortgage broker: "I make my money as a writer. Look, crime doesn't pay. What I did is still a huge burden that weighs on me. I live modestly."