A fugitive charged with securities fraud over a New Jersey deli once valued at more than $100 million was arrested in Thailand at the request of US authorities.
(Bloomberg) — A fugitive charged with securities fraud over a New Jersey deli once valued at more than $100 million was arrested in Thailand at the request of US authorities.
Peter Coker Jr. was taken into custody on Jan. 11, according to Matthew Reilly, a spokesperson for the New Jersey US Attorney’s office. The Bangkok Post, which previously reported the arrest, said Coker was staying in a hotel room in the Thalang district of Thailand’s Phuket province.
He was charged in September along with his father, Peter L. Coker Sr., and another man, James T. Patten, with using accounts they controlled to create the appearance of active trading in two companies, Hometown International Inc. and E-Waste Corp. Hometown’s sole asset was a small deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey.
Patten and Coker Sr., both residents of North Carolina, pleaded not guilty in October. A lawyer for Coker Jr. couldn’t be immediately identified.
Hometown became infamous when hedge fund legend David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital highlighted the company in an April 2021 letter to investors as an example of irrational exuberance in the market.
“The pastrami must be amazing,” Einhorn observed.
Authorities say the trio’s trading in the company — which had sales of less than $20,000 in 2019 — pushed the shares above $13, resulting in the nine-figure market capitalization. According to prosecutors, the men used the same method to drive up the shares of E-Waste.
The case is US v Patten, 22-cr-00643, US District Court, District of New Jersey.
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