New jersey deli at center of interstate stock market manipulation case

CAMDEN, N.J. – James Patten, a 64-year-old resident of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has admitted to his role in a complex market manipulation scheme involving two publicly traded companies. This announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

Patten pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn. The scheme, which unfolded from 2014 through September 2022, involved Patten and co-defendants Peter Coker Sr., and Peter Coker Jr. They conspired to manipulate the prices of securities through coordinated trading, injecting false information into the market and misleading investors about supply and demand.

The targeted companies were Hometown International Inc. and E-Waste Corp., both traded on the OTC Link Alternative Trading System, or OTC Marketplace. Patten and his associates aimed to gain control over these entities’ management and stock, planning reverse mergers with private operating companies to sell shares at a significant profit.

The scheme began around 2014 with the opening of a local deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey. Patten, a friend of one of the deli’s founders, proposed the creation of Hometown International as an umbrella corporation for the deli. Unbeknownst to the deli owners, this was part of a larger plan to use the company for a lucrative reverse merger.

By October 2019, Hometown International was trading shares on the OTC Marketplace. Patten, Coker Sr., and Coker Jr. executed a strategy to gain control of the company’s management and shares, and carried out similar actions with E-Waste Corporation.

The defendants transferred millions of shares to various entities, including those controlled by Coker Jr., to disguise their control. They used the accounts of family members, friends, and associates to conduct coordinated trading events, such as match and wash trades, to artificially inflate the stock prices. This scheme led to a staggering 939 percent increase in Hometown International’s stock value and a 19,900 percent surge in E-Waste’s stock.

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