Three males charged with fraud in $100 million New Jersey deli scheme

Three males have been charged with fraud and different crimes in a scheme involving an organization that was value $100 million within the inventory market regardless of having solely a small-town New Jersey deli to its title, federal authorities stated Monday.

The boys – James Patten, 63, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Peter Coker Sr., 80, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Peter Coker Jr., 53, of Hong Kong – have been charged with 12 counts, together with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to control securities costs. Patten and Coker Sr. have been arrested and appeared in a North Carolina courtroom on Monday. They’re anticipated to seem in New Jersey federal courtroom at a later date. Coker Jr. continues to be at giant.

Federal prosecutors stated Patten can be charged with 4 counts of manipulation of securities, 4 counts of wire fraud, and a depend of cash laundering. The boys have been additionally accused of market manipulation by the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee. The SEC stated its investigation is ongoing.

Coker Jr. was chairman of Hometown Worldwide, whereas Coker Sr. was a significant shareholder. There have been no legal professionals of report for the defendants as of Monday afternoon, in keeping with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in New Jersey.

Your Hometown Deli, the enterprise on the heart of the probe, was positioned in Paulsboro, New Jersey, over the Delaware River from Philadelphia. The deli, lauded for its cheesesteaks and Italian subs, had beneath $40,000 in annual income and closed earlier this 12 months. The guardian firm, Hometown Worldwide, had merged with a bioplastics firm. Fellow shell firm E-Waste, which shared connections with the deli proprietor, additionally merged with one other agency final 12 months.

The controversy surrounding Your Hometown Deli and the folks concerned in it prompted questions on whether or not its guardian firm was working throughout the regulation. The accusations are also linked to the boys’s involvement in E-Waste.

The $100 million New Jersey deli, as Your Hometown Deli got here to be recognized, was first dropped at the general public’s consideration by investor David Einhorn in a 2021 letter to shoppers. CNBC reported additional on the corporate, together with by unearthing extra particulars about its then-CEO, Paul Morina, a legendary highschool wrestling coach in southern New Jersey. Morina was later fired as CEO. An try to succeed in Morina was unsuccessful.

Patten, one of many males charged within the scheme, wrestled in highschool with Morina. Prosecutors stated Patten satisfied the house owners of the deli, which was established in 2014, to place it beneath the management of an umbrella firm, known as Hometown Worldwide.

“Unbeknownst to the deli house owners, virtually instantly after Hometown Worldwide was shaped, Patten and his associates started positioning Hometown Worldwide as a automobile for a reverse merger that will yield substantial revenue to them,” prosecutors stated in a launch.

In 2019, Hometown Worldwide began promoting shares on what’s often known as the OTC Market, the place inventory of small firms is traded.

“Shortly thereafter, Patten, Coker Sr., And Coker Jr. undertook a calculated scheme to realize management of Hometown Worldwide’s administration and its shares from the deli house owners,” prosecutors stated. The boys took comparable actions to take management of E-Waste, prosecutors stated. That firm’s shares surged, too, though it did not have any actual enterprise, in keeping with CNBC reporting.

Prosecutors stated the techniques “artificially inflated” the values of Hometown Worldwide and E-Waste inventory by 939% and 19,900%, respectively.

As of final 12 months, Patten was barred by FINRA, the broker-dealer regulator, from performing as a stockbroker or associating with broker-dealers. He was the topic of repeated disciplinary actions by FINRA. In 2006, he efficiently appealed sanctions issued by an SEC decide in a case the place he was accused of manipulating the worth of a inventory listed on the Nasdaq. Patten was defended in that matter by Ira Sorkin, who was finest recognized for representing Ponzi scheme kingpin Bernie Madoff.

The Cokers and Patten face steep jail sentences and fines. The securities fraud and securities worth manipulation counts carry most penalties of 20 years in jail and a $5 million fantastic. The wire fraud and cash laundering counts even have most penalties of 20 years in jail. The conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to control securities costs counts every carry a most penalty of 5 years in jail.

Coker Jr. and Sr. are father and son. CNBC had beforehand reported on their enterprise dealings and different misadventures.

Learn the total indictment right here.