wolf of wall street
The Wolf of Wall Street movie is based on a real story about one of the world's largest boiler room scams Paramount

One of the fraudsters jailed for his involvement in a Wolf of Wall Street-style £70m share scam ring has been ordered to pay back £154,412 within six months or face another two and a half years in prison.

Jon Emery, 36, was one of the six fraudsters that was involved in the largest boiler room fraud ever pursued by a UK authority, after selling worthless shares to British investors from a company based in Madrid, Spain.

The company duped around 1,000 UK investors between 2003 and 2007 into buying shares in worthless companies, using aggressive and cold-calling techniques.

The Serious Fraud Office initially launched its investigation in 2007. Emery was given a five-year prison sentence in May 2013 along with all his other fraudsters, including ringleader Australian Jeffery Revell-Reade, Anthony May, Daniel Gooding and Emma Farmer.

Gooding, 39, received 7 years in custody while Rumsey, 33, and Morris, 38, received 5 years in jail. Hughes, 34, was hit by a 4-year sentence while Farmer, 41, received 3 years in custody.

What is a Boiler Room Scam?

Boiler room scams usually come out of the blue, with fraudsters cold-calling investors after taking their phone number from publicly available shareholder lists. But the high-pressure sales tactics can also come by email, post, word of mouth or at a seminar.

These share scams are sometimes advertised in newspapers, magazines or online as genuine investment opportunities. They may even offer a free research report into a company in which you hold shares, or a free gift or discount on their dealing charges.

You will often be told that you need to make a quick decision or miss out on the deal.

The scammers might also try to sell you shares in a company you have never heard of, often because it does not exist. If you buy these shares, it is likely you will be left with a worthless investment.

Source: Financial Conduct Authority