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The $100 million New Jersey deli fraud involved Peter Coker Jr., Peter Coker Sr., and James Patten, who orchestrated a stock manipulation scheme to inflate the value of Hometown International—a tiny deli—and a shell company, E-Waste. Despite minimal or no business activity, the companies’ market caps soared due to coordinated trades: Hometown’s rose over 900%, E-Waste’s nearly 20,000%. The goal was to attract reverse mergers. The scam gained notoriety in 2021 after investor David Einhorn flagged the deli’s absurd valuation. All three men pleaded guilty. Coker Jr. was sentenced to 40 months; Coker Sr. received six months; Patten awaits sentencing.
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