Stockbroker, Businessman popular for the "Pump and Dump" Stock Fraud Scheme

Danny Porush | Biography

The movie 'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013) was taken based on the story of Belfort and Danny Porush

• By Anuska
• Update : December 05, 2021

---

Danny Porush is an American businessman famous for the "pump and dump" stock fraud scheme in the 1990s. 

Who is Danny Porush?

Danny Porush is an American businessman, born in February 1957 in Lawrence, New York, USA. He is 64 years as of 2021. He was raised in a Jewish family. 

Porush is a graduate of Lawrence Woodmore Academy. Later, he attended Dickinson College and Boston University but did not complete his degree. According to New York magazine, Porush jumped jobs in the initial days and started different small businesses. 

Porush was also known for his successful entrepreneurial ventures started in 1979 after attending Boston University. He first founded the company Contemporary Courier and later sold it in 1984 for over $500,000. Likewise, he founded Sure Ambulette Inc. in 1983 and Select Courier Inc. in 1985. He sold the Select Courier in 1988, which ultimately helped him become a licensed stockbroker. 

Porush, along with his business partner and friend Jordan Belfort, established a brokerage house Stratton Oakmont firm in 1989. Porush became a chairperson of the company by 1993, when he owned over 90% of the company. Porush resigned from the company in 1997. He then moved to Florida in 1998 and started the firm Noble & Perrault Collectibles Inc. 

In 1999, Porush was convicted of securities fraud and money laundering that happened in his tenure in the Stratton Oakmont brokerage. For this, he served 39 months in prison. Additionally, he was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $200 million to the victims. However, he has just paid $11 million to date. 

Porush was released from prison in 2004 and began working as a truck driver for his wife's beauty products company. Later, he was involved with a medical supply company Med-Care. He is currently a top executive of the company. The company has become the subject of federal investigations. 

After being ordered by the court to pay $200 million to his victims, he did not fulfill the orders. To everybody's shock, he and his wife moved into a $7.5 million Miami Beach condo. The couple is the owners of the matching Rolls Royce convertibles. Despite the court order, the luxury was possible as the property was in his wife's name, and Porush proved that he had no financing of his own to repay the victims. 

Jordan Belfort and Danny Porush

Danny Porush and Jordan Belfort were convicted in 1999 in connection with the "Pump and Dump" stock fraud scheme. Belfort opened up recently that Porush does not do enough to pay down the restitution for their crimes. The two also pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering. Belfort served 22 months in prison for his crime and was ordered by the judge to pay $110 million to his victims in 2003. 

The movie The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) was taken based on the story of Belfort and Porush. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in their characters. Though the movie is not the same, and the characters' names are different, the storyline has been inspired from the 2007 memoir by Belfort. Many parts of the movies are true and Belfort has confirmed it. 

Wife and Ex-wife

Danny Porush has been married twice in his life. Initially, he married his cousin, Nancy, in 1986. The couple has three children together. When Porush was held in custody for three months after his arrest in 1998, he dumped his wife of 12 years for his then-girlfriend, Lisa Krause. 

Lisa Krause went on to become Proush's second wife. Krause is listed as the Vice-President of Med-Care. The two tied the knot after Porush was released from jail. The couple has one child and four step-children.