He may have been “The Wolf of Wall Street,” but Jordan Belfort was afraid of his own leftovers.
Obsessed with keeping his figure, the former stock scammer would spray Windex on food in his fridge so he wouldn’t be tempted to eat it. And served a bowl of pasta, he’d suck out the tomato sauce and leave the macaroni.
He lived on Gatorade and put lifts in his custom Ferragamo shoes to boost his 5-foot-7 frame.
“He has the lowest self-esteem in the world,” said Michael Peragine, a former business associate and friend of Belfort.
Peragine saw Belfort struggle to redeem himself after his 1998 arrest for ripping off thousands of investors. The Long Islander grew enamored with Belfort’s salesmanship as the two worked at a Nassau County mortgage brokerage in the early 2000s.
Belfort was sober then, cooperating with authorities to reduce his prison time and trying to go legit.
But Peragine, 38, said he ended up being another of Belfort’s victims, left with empty promises, hard feelings and a stack of bills.
“I got screwed,” said Peragine, now in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where he is running for City Council.
Peragine hasn’t seen Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” nominated last week for a Best Picture Oscar.
In 2003, Peragine left Long Island and moved to California with Belfort, then 41, to set up a business venture. He rented a Manhattan Beach house for $6,900 a month.
Then Belfort dropped a bombshell.
“Four months later . . . he told me that he had just cut some deal with the government,” Peragine said.
Belfort was to do time at a California prison. And he needed Peragine’s help.
“He asked to make sure that I come and spend time with him at least once a week, bring his kids up when I could and take care of his bills,” Peragine said.
He said that the Wolf left him about $100,000 to pay bills and that he felt obligated to comply even the money ran out and he was digging in his own pocket.
“My theory was Jordan taught me a lot about sales,” he said. “I would consider him one of the top five salespeople in the world. Jordan is a guy who can mesmerize you.”
Belfort began to write his memoir in prison. Peragine hashed over it during visits and later took it to a literary agent.
Belfort served 22 months and after his release, continued to work on the memoir at Peragine’s office. Belfort promised Peragine half the proceeds of the book and the film he was sure would come of it.
“Then, after he’s out of the halfway house, he tells me that it’s his life . . . I can’t own his life,” Peragine said.
The book deal brought in more than $1.4 million, with Belfort getting half after he paid his agent and the government taking $701,709 for restitution.
Belfort’s sentencing agreement called for him to pay his victims a total of $110 million. So far, he has paid just $11.6 million.
He got $940,500 from the sale of the film rights in 2011 but paid the government just $21,000 that year, court papers show.
He did not return calls for comment last week.