A FINANCIAL advisor likened to the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ is behind bars after running a £4.4m Ponzi scheme.

Conman Stephen Evans, of Orlando Drive in Chapelford, splashed the cash on flash cars, expensive holidays, jewellery and ran up £100,000 bar bills.

Over three years he enjoyed a luxury lifestyle with other people’s money, similar to 1990s conman Jordan Belfort whose memoir was recreated in recent Leonardo DiCaprio blockbuster The Wolf of Wall Street.

The 30-year-old spent £1.5m on supercars including a lime green Lamborghini, a Porsche 911, Bentleys and Mercedes as well as thousands of pounds on holidays to New Zealand.

Detective chief inspector Dave McCaughrean said: "Stephen Evans mistakenly thought he could get away with spending the money of honest and hard-working people who trusted him.

“Following an intricate year long investigation, Evans has been convicted of 10 counts of fraud and one of converting criminal property and received over five years in prison.

”Our officers in the economic interventions team will work relentlessly to target criminals who think they can profit from crime and live the high life.

“This is completely unacceptable and I would like to reassure the community that this is a priority for the force and we will always act on any information provided by the public.

”I hope the sentence brings some measure of closure and a sense of justice to the victims and their families.”

An investigation is now underway to recover the assets of Evans under the Proceeds of Crime Act.