The Teen Wolf of Wall Street, Mohammad Islam, is a high school student who is rumoured to have made $72 million playing the stock market.

As reported by New York magazine, the story goes like this. While you were crying over Aeris, Islam was learning how to trade penny stocks. Flexing capital he earned tutoring, Islam was first experiencing the high of trading. That is, until he gambled away a chunk of tutoring income and abandoned stocks at the tender age of nine.

Then, the story goes, while you were sneaking out of high school to perv at the beach, Islam had regained his nerve and was working towards accumulating his headline-grabbing net worth of $72 million.

I wanted to believe it. But it simply isn’t true.

Intrigued, Business Insider (who had previously covered Islam) did some fact-checking and got in touch with The Investment Club for Young Traders (of which Islam was a member), who issued the following statement:

“It has been brought to the attention of the Leaders Investment Club that Mohammed Islam has been rumored to have made $72,000,000 through making trades in the stock market. After performing due diligence and talking with Mohammed Islam himself, we have determined that these claims are false and simply been blown up by the media in the interests of sensationalism.”

But the jig was really up when New York Observer sat down with Islam and his friend Damir Tulemaganbetov at the offices of their newly engaged PR firm for an interview. They got right down to business:

You seem to be quoted saying “eight figures.” That’s not true, is it?

No, it is not true.

Is there ANY figure? Have you invested and made returns at all?

No.

So it’s total fiction?

Yes.

And that was that. It looks a lot like New York were flat-out lied to.

While (rumoured) money was at the heart of the story, Islam also had a few more philosophical things to say to New York about it.

“We want to create a brotherhood. Like, all of us who are connected, who are in something together, who have influence…”

“It all comes down to this – what makes the world go round? Money. If money is not flowing, if businesses don’t keep going, there’s no innovation, no products, no investments, no growth, no jobs.”

What do his friends think? Damir Tulemaganbetov had this to say:

“My father has a quote,” said Damir, the kid who was really into the Wolf of Wall Street comparisons. “It’s really dope: ‘You can rob a bank with a gun, but you can rob the whole world with a bank.’ ”

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