The real “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort is not hiding in Australia, he has denied. The U.S. attorney’s office apologised for saying that the former stockbroker, who was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Martin Scorsese film, has moved Down Under.

An article in the Wall Street Journal claimed the authorities in the U.S. suspected Mr Belfort hiding in Australia after it was reported that he was neglecting to pay his court-ordered restitutions to his victims.

Apparently he fled to the country to avoid paying restitutions, and that he is living off book proceeds, movie royalties, and motivational speaker fees.

The source of the article was Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to him, Mr Belfort was lying when the convicted fraudster said he did not make any royalties of the film or any of his memoirs, “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Catching the Wolf of Wall Street.” Mr Belfort received $940,000 in 2011 for the movie rights of his story, but only reportedly paid $21,000 in restitution and even claimed $24,000 deduction on his income for the payment.

But Mr Belfort has disproved the claim, calling the article “utterly insane and libellous.”

“The false and libellous story has now been circulated around the globe, in all forms of media, and has caused significant damage to my reputation as a man who not only owns his mistakes but also makes it a point to go above the beyond to do the right thing,” Mr Belfort wrote on his Facebook page.

He added that he is still “100% committed to turning over 100% of the profits of both books and the movie, which I hope will amount to many, many millions.”

“Fortunately, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, through my attorney, has issued me a personal apology and the Wall Street Journal will run a correction. I respect them for promptly admitting their mistake (which I believe was isolated to this one man, and hence, not indicative of the integrity of the entire office),” he continued.

Mr Belfort is the subject of the film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” with DiCaprio portraying him. The film is based on his same-titled memoir, which details his rise to success and his fall after he was found to engage in securities fraud and corruption on Wall Street.

He was indicted for securities fraud and money laundering in 1998. He served 22 months in prison of his four-year sentence. He was also ordered to pay back his victims $110.4 million as restitution, including 50% of his gross income until his debt was paid.

DiCaprio recently earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor for his role as Jordan Belfort.