Peter Coker Sr. and his wife Susan Coker at U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, March 15, 2023.
Dan Mangan | CNBC
Peter Coker Jr., left, is issued search warrants from police at his villa on the southern resort island of Phuket, Thailand, Jan. 11, 2023.
Crime Suppression Division, Royal Thai Police | AP
A third defendant, James Patten, pleaded guilty last December to the same charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud in connection with the company once known as Hometown International and another firm.
The Cokers and Patten each admitted their roles in the scheme to artificially boost the stock price of Hometown, whose only real business asset was the Your Hometown Deli in Paulsboro, as well as the shares of a shell company then-known as E-Waste.
Hometown’s stock price rose by more than 900% as a result of the scheme. The price of E-Waste rose by nearly 20,000%.
The scam, which ran from 2014 through September 2022, involved coordinated trading of the stocks of both company, creating a false impression of demand for their shares, which traded on OTC Marketplace.
The defendants during the conspiracy gained control of the companies’ management and shares, with the aim of using them as vehicles for reverse mergers with privately-held companies. Both companies ended up being merged in such deals with private firms.
Coker Sr., an 82-year-old who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has been free on bond since his arrest in September 2022. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13.
Zach Intrater, an attorney for the elder Coker, declined to comment on his guilty plea.
The former Hong Kong resident Coker Jr., 56, has been held without bail since he was extradited from Thailand in March 2023. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2.
A lawyer for Coker Jr. had no immediate comment Thursday.
The defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Patten previously pleaded guilty in 2010 in New Jersey federal court to mail fraud, which was related to sending a client a false financial statement to cover up bad investments he made using her money. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison in that case.
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