The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged Peter L. Coker Sr., Peter L. Coker Jr., and James T. Patten for their roles in orchestrating fraudulent manipulative securities trading schemes. These schemes included artificially inflating the share price of Hometown International, which operated a New Jersey deli producing less than $40,000 in annual revenue, from approximately $1 per share in October 2019 to nearly $14 per share by April 2021, leading to a grossly inflated market capitalization of $100 million.

According to the SEC's complaint, Patten, Coker Sr., and Coker Jr., who was the former Chairman of the Board of Hometown International, took control of the outstanding shares of Hometown International and a separate shell company, E-Waste Corp., artificially inflated the price of both issuers' stock through manipulative trading, and used the entities to acquire privately-held companies in reverse mergers, with the intent to thereafter dump their shares at grossly inflated prices. Before the defendants were able to reap the intended profits of the schemes, as alleged, numerous news articles were published discussing the issuers' inflated stock prices.

The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges all three defendants with violating the antifraud provisions of Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a) and (c) thereunder. The complaint also charges Patten with violating the market manipulation provisions of Section 9(a)(1) of the Exchange Act and Coker Sr. and Coker Jr. with aiding and abetting Patten's violations of Section 9(a)(1). The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement and prejudgment interest, civil monetary penalties, and penny stock bars against all defendants and, with respect to Coker Jr., an officer and director bar.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Patten, Coker Sr., and Coker Jr.

The SEC's investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by Cecilia B. Connor of the Philadelphia Regional Office with assistance from Leigh Barrett from the Office of Investigative and Market Analytics. It is being supervised by Assunta Vivolo and Mr. Thompson. The SEC's litigation will be handled by John V. Donnelly and supervised by Gregory R. Bockin. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.