Jordan Belfort Case

The country that we live in today has a variety different bylaws and regulations that protect citizens from potential harmful actions, in aspects that effect a person physically, mentally, and financially. When it comes to determining which crimes are the most damaging to people there are a variety of crimes that people may point to that fit the description of most harmful. Some may point to crimes such as theft, assault, and a variety of other crimes that they believe to have the most repercussions. Arguably the most harmful crime, when it pertains to financial matters of a person, concerns fraudulent acts by those who desire to make a quick buck at the expense of an unsuspecting individual. The crime of securities fraud is a crime that entails

deceitful actions of individuals in the business arena, with some cases gaining worldwide recognition and one cases being so famous that it made its way in popular film culture.
Securities Fraud is a part of white collar crime, which relates to the unethical actions of both business and government professionals when it comes to matters concerning finances. White-Collar crime carries not only hefty fines from government entities such as the Securities and Exchange commission, which is tasked with investigating deviant behavior in the world of business, but also brings forth prison time. The definition of securities fraud crime according to uslegal.com “is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws”. What the definition in essence details, is how it’s illegal for anyone to deceive potential investors by making inaccurate claims about said product or stock in order to make a sale. Deception could come in many forms, but mainly consist of three forms of deceitful factions. The first being not detailing the all the information about a certain security. The second being detailing inaccurate information to potential buyers of the security. The third being the use of “inside” information about a certain product in order to gain a competitive advantage, which is known as insider trading. The crime itself could potentially lead to a five-year stint in federal prison,
There is one case that comes to mind when it comes to matters cornering securities fraud.

The case being that of Jordan Belfort during the latter part of the 1980’s and early part of the 1990’s. The crime concerned Belfort and the company he had established that of Stratton Oakmont. The company had made a living of selling low quality stocks to a variety of individuals. Stratton Oakmont employees would misrepresent the stocks of companies and make fraudulent claims in order to get the people to purchase the stocks. To go along with the action of making false claims, Stratton Oakmont would buy stocks into the companies at a very low rate. Once the price of the stock had become inflated to the point where the price would be good for the selling, the company would resell their stocks at a higher price. This practice would be termed as “pump and dump”. Stratton Oakmont would go on to dup more than 1,000 clients which totaled to around 200 million dollars. Jordan Belfort would go on to be fined an excess of 100 million dollars and would serve a term of four years in prison. The company in which Belfort created had received a hefty fine of 2.5 Million Dollars and prevent Belfort from being involved with Stratton Oakmont. The case was so unique and interesting that a movie would eventually be made called the wolf of wall street in 2013 and would garner countless

awards.
The practice of committing securities fraud isn’t an uncommon practice among those in the business world. Securities Fraud comes in a variety of forms ranging from insider trading, money, laundering and a variety of other deviant actions. The case of Jordan Belfort is very a different from many cases, as a gained the attention of an entire country. Even though actions such as these don’t make the national news, actions similar to Belfort continue to this day, as countless innocent individuals are defrauded and are left with less than they had before.