The "Wolf of Wall Street" Stiffed Me! Miami Limo Driver Sues Jordan Belfort

Limo driver Robert Posch knew exactly what his regular client Jordan Belfort, AKA the notorious "Wolf of Wall Street," required upon climbing into Posch's shiny new Cadillac Escalade: a cold Red Bull, a phone charger, and a comb.

"He pretty much used me on a daily basis" starting in the fall of 2020, Posch tells New Times. "During Art Basel, I was going nonstop with him."

Posch knows the drill. As the proprietor of Superior Miami Limo Service, he says he has driven around countless celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake, and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton.

Those people, however, differed from Belfort in one crucial way. According to a recently filed lawsuit, Belfort's "luxurious habits continue to be fueled by taking advantage of others." (The complaint is attached below.)

The suit, a copy of which was obtained by New Times, alleges that Belfort stiffed Posch out of nearly $24,000 for driving services from September 2021 through December 2021.

"He just basically stopped paying, and I asked countless times for him to pay me," Posch tells New Times.

As you might recall, during the 1990s, Belfort defrauded more than 1,500 investors out of $200 million. At the end of that decade, he pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering and spent almost two years in federal prison. After his release, the Bronx native reinvented himself as a motivational speaker and wrote the memoir that inspired a 2013 Martin Scorsese movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio that grossed nearly $290 million at the box office.

Shortly before The Wolf of Wall Street was released in 2013, Belfort insisted he'd moved on from his scamming ways. He said he was a changed man and wanted to "finally close out that chapter" in his life.

Then again, at his sentencing, the judge ordered Belfort to repay $110 million in restitution. As recently as 2018, prosecutors were claiming the money had still not been paid.

The limo driver Posch claims that "despite still owing his victims over $100 million," Belfort is living out an "opulent lifestyle and recently moved into a $35,000-per-month rental home on Hibiscus Island in Miami Beach."

Posch says the 60-year-old ex-con, who charges thousands of dollars per appearance as an event speaker and cryptocurrency guru, first hired Superior Limo in October of 2020 on one of his frequent visits to the Magic City. The erstwhile Wall Street Wolf eventually moved full-time to Miami Beach from California a year later and continued to use Posch's services.

Posch says he would submit monthly invoices to Belfort's assistant that included an itemization of every trip, and that the assistant approved each invoice.

The payments stopped around September 2021, Posch says, though he continued to drive Belfort.

"I was still working with him until about January of this year," the driver tells New Times. But then I said, 'Well, listen, mister, we are four months late.' [He would respond,] 'What do you worry about? I pay everyone.'"

According to Posch's records, the priciest month was November 2021, during which Belfort racked up $8,000 in rides, many of which involved taking Belfort and others to and from Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. Other times, Posch says, he devoted 12- to 16-hour days driving Belfort all around Miami-Dade County, resulting in bills of $1,000 or more for the day. He also drove Belfort to restaurants like Mila and Carbone in Miami Beach, and to nightclubs like E11even in downtown Miami.

Reached by New Times, Belfort asserts that the lawsuit is based on fake invoices. He contends that his bookkeeper, who is responsible for paying Belfort's bills, paid Posch on time each month.

"This is the biggest scam ever," Belfort retorts. "The guy gets fired because he leaves me and my wife at a restaurant and then suddenly months later, he sends back bills from when I moved down here. Like, I already paid all of these invoices."

A week after Miami attorneys David Winker and David Hagen sent a demand letter to Belfort on Posch's behalf on September 7, the recipient bared his figurative fangs via return text message.

"I know what you're up to making up phony invoices going back to the day I moved here and I [am] going to destroy you on social media," reads a screenshot of a text Posch says Belfort sent him on September 14. "You are a fucking crock and looking forward to reading about you in the Miami Herald and on every website and social media network. We have proof that you're a fucking liar."

Such animosity stands in stark contrast to a December 2021 video Belfort recorded in the back of Posch's Escalade, in which the wealthy wolf sang the driver's praises.

"Listen, if you are thinking about finding a limo company in Miami, you have to use Superior Miami," Belfort says in the video, which Posch's attorney shared with New Times. "Robert is my driver personally. He is the best driver ever. He knows everyone and everything in Miami. He has a great time that's been working for him. Definitely the best service anywhere in Miami — promise you that, got my vote of confidence."

When Belfort failed to respond formally to the demand letter within 30 days, Posch and his lawyers moved forward with the lawsuit.