N.J. deli stock fraud defendant renounced U.S. citizenship, prosecutors seek detention

NEWARK, N.J. – A former fugitive within the securities fraud case involving a New Jersey deli firm as soon as valued at $100 million renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2019, prosecutors revealed Thursday as they requested a decide to disclaim him bail.

Peter Coker Jr. “poses a critical threat of flight, and … there aren’t any circumstances or mixture thereof that may guarantee his look at future proceedings,” mentioned the letter by the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace to a federal Justice of the Peace decide.

In the identical letter, prosecutors mentioned Coker Jr. had “stood to make tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}” from a hoped-for reverse merger of the deli firm, which the purpose of the “complicated, long-term fraud’ spanning not less than seven years that grossly inflated its inventory value.

“And the one cause that the Defendant and his co-conspirators had been unable to realize their final goal of coming into right into a reverse merger, which might have allowed for an enormous payout, was due to adverse information articles that uncovered their fraud,” the letter mentioned.

CNBC in 2021 revealed a number of dozen articles that uncovered eyebrow-raising consulting agreements, troubled authorized histories, and different points associated to folks related to the deli firm.

Coker Jr., who was extradited from Thailand final week, is because of seem in Newark federal courtroom on Thursday afternoon for a detention listening to within the case, the place his father and a 3rd man are also charged.

Prosecutors of their letter cited Coker Jr.’s entry to funds abroad, his citizenship from one other nation, his three a long time dwelling overseas in Hong Kong, and the 20-year most doable legal sentence he faces if convicted as causes to worry he’ll flee the fees,

“No proof is extra telling than a defendant’s personal phrases,” prosecutors wrote.

They cited Coker Jr.’s authorized assertion on June 5, 2019, saying, “Whereas I used to be born and raised within the U.S., I moved to Hong Kong in July, 1992 for profession causes and have established my roots and intensive social and household ties right here. I’ve no intention to return to stay or work within the U.S., and have subsequently determined to resign my U.S. nationality.”

Attorneys for Coker Jr. at his arraignment final week argued he was keen to place up all the cash he has, about $4 million, and his dad and mom’ North Carolina dwelling as collateral to safe his launch on bond within the case.

Coker Jr, his father Peter Coker Sr. and James Patten had been charged in an indictment on Sept. 26 with a scheme artificially enhance the costs of publicly traded shares of Hometown Worldwide, and a associated shell firm, E-Waste, to extend their attractiveness as merger companions for personal firms.

Whereas the elder Coker and Patten had been arrested in North Carolina after which launched on bonds of $100,000 every, Coker Jr. was a fugitive for months earlier than being discovered and arrested in a resort space of Thailand by police there in January.

Coker Jr. had traveled there on a passport from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, the place he has citizenship.

In their very own letter to Choose Edward Kiel on Thursday, Coker Jr.’s attorneys argued he remained in Phuket, Thailand, after studying of his indictment as a result of he was too sick to journey.

Coker Jr. claimed he was receiving medical consideration for cirrhosis of his liver and hypoxemia previous to his arrest.

“Mr. Coker’s look in america would have seemingly occurred sooner if not for critical well being points he confronted within the interval following the unsealing of the indictment towards him,” his attorneys argued within the submitting.

“Mr. Coker prioritized in search of medical remedy in his area people of Thailand reasonably than instantly surrendering to authorities and risking the chance that he could be transported by airplane to america towards his physician’s recommendation.”

The indictment alleges that because of the scheme, the inventory value of Hometown, which owned solely a small, money-losing deli in Paulsboro dubbed Your Hometown Deli, rose greater than 900% because of the alleged scheme. E-Waste’s shares skyrocketed by virtually 20,000%.

Each firms publicly disavowed their large market valuations after CNBC revealed authorized points surrounding folks related to the businesses, together with Coker Sr.

The youthful Coker served for a while as Hometown Worldwide’s chairman.

Gabrielle Fonrouge reported from Newark and Dan Mangan reported from Englewood Cliffs, N.J.