American arrested in Phuket over alleged “stock manipulation”

[webfact]

 

PHOTO: Police arrest Mr Coker in Surin - Wassayos Ngamkham

 

By Peter Roche

A 54 year old US citizen has been arrested in the Thalang district (north of the island) over alleged stock manipulation and fraud.

 

Mr Peter Coker had a warrant for his arrest issued on December 27, 2022, based on red notices issued for him on Interpol). He is charged with… “colluding in stock fraud, fraudulent manipulative securities trading and related offence”.

 

Mr Coker was arrested last Wednesday in his accommodation near Surin Beach, in coordination with the US FBI. It’s been evealed that Mr. Coker is also a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. The alleged share manipulation relates to two companies he was involved in, Hometown International and E-Waste Corp.

 

 

Mr Coker and other business partners then were able to bring the company Hometown International to the market with an initial public offering of US$1.25 per share before contracting a third party stock trader to “manipulate” the share price. Two years later the stock price had risen to US$12.99. In the same time some 3.5 million shares were transferred to nominees based in Macau.

 

Jail terms for such crimes could reach 20 years. The suspect’s father and a Mr. James Patten were arrested in the US in the weeks before Mr Coker Jnr was located and subsequently arrested in Phuket. He is now in custody awaiting an extradition hearing.

 

Full story: https://phuket-go.com/phuket-news/phuket-news/american-arrested-in-phuket-over-alleged-stock-manipulation/

 

-- © Copyright Phuket GO 2023-01-16

 

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[webfact]

Fraud suspect nabbed by police in Phuket linked to $100 million fraud centred on Jersey, US deli shop
by James Morris and Son Nguyen

 

 

Police officers led by Police Major General Montri Khetkhan of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) arrested US man Paul Coker junior at a hotel in the Surin Beach area of Phuket on Wednesday

The search for the third accused in the New Jersey fraud scheme ended in Phuket where 54-year-old Peter Coker junior was taken into custody on Wednesday by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Criminal Court in Bangkok at the end of December 2022. In October 2022, a lawyer, who has previously represented Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, told CNBC in the United States that no party lost money in the fraud when his client, Mr Peter Coker senior was granted bail by the New Jersey District Court.

A US fraud suspect with citizenship of the West Indies island state of St Kitts and Nevis will be deported back to the United States to face a fraud trial in the State of New Jersey after his arrest on Wednesday in Phuket by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD). Peter Coker junior took flight four months ago when authorities brought the curtain down on an elaborate stock fraud operation centred on a small deli shop in Paulsboro, New Jersey.

 

Thai police on Wednesday arrested a 54-year-old man in connection with stock fraud and manipulation in the United States on foot of a warrant issued on December 27th by the Criminal Court in Bangkok.

after the Criminal Court issued a warrant for his detention on December 27th last when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Bangkok alerted the Royal Thai Police that they believed the fraud suspect may be in Thailand.

Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2023/01/14/us-man-in-phuket-linked-to-100m-share-fraud-peter-coker-new-jersey/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Examiner 2023-01-16

 

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[webfact]

New Jersey Deli Scam Suspect Arrested In Phuket
By AFP and Harriet Alexander for Dailymail.com and Matichon

 

Peter Coker Jr. being arrested at a hotel room in Phuket today. Photo: Matichon

 

THE THIRD suspect wanted in the US for inflating the value of a New Jersey deli by over 900% was arrested at a hotel room near Phuket’s Surin beach today (Jan. 14), Matichon newspaper said.

 

Peter Coker Jr., 54, a citizen of Carribean island state of St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested by a Crime Suppression Division team headed by its chief Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphob Phuridej and a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation under an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on December 27, 2022 for extradition.

 

Coker Jr, together with his father Peter Coker Sr., 80, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and James Patten, 63, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, were charged in September 2022 for their role in inflating the value of the New Jersey deli, to show that the small shop was worth $112 million.

 

Full story: https://thainewsroom.com/2023/01/14/new-jersey-deli-scam-suspect-arrested-in-phuket/

 

-- © Copyright  THAI NEWSROOM 2023-01-16

 

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[webfact]

Saint Christopher and Nevis Man Wanted by US Arrested in Phuket
By Goongnang Suksawat

 

Phuket – A Saint Christopher and Nevis man who is wanted by the United States of America was arrested in Thalang.

 

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Police revealed to the press today (January 14th) that they and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation have arrested Mr. Peter Coker Jr, 54, a Saint Christopher and Nevis national at a hotel near Surin Beach in Thalang.

 

Mr. Coker Jr is a wanted suspect in an arrest warrant issued by Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) last month for alleged stock fraud. Mr. Coker Jr. admitted that he is the person in the notice but not to the alleged crimes.

 

Full story: https://thephuketexpress.com/2023/01/14/saint-christopher-and-nevis-man-wanted-by-us-arrested-in-phuket/

 

-- © Copyright The Phuket Express 2023-01-16

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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[TheFishman1]

Wow, those red notices work pretty good. I’m not sure the Red Bull guy TIT.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Jail terms for such crimes could reach 20 years. The suspect’s father and a Mr. James Patten were arrested in the US in the weeks before Mr Coker Jnr was located and subsequently arrested in Phuket. He is now in custody awaiting an extradition hearing.

He won't see any beaches again.

[RichardColeman]

Oh, well, strike one of the new 10 year visa application list

[VinnieK]

Dumba$$ should have laid low..ie..rented a house in an obscure town somewhere and never visit immigration..

He's fookd now

 

 

[The Old Bull]

Thailand is not a good place to hide out. Should have gone somewhere with no extradition. When his father was arrested should have took off.

[riverhigh]

A New Jersy deli shop worht 112 million dollars must be making some special sandwiches (smile).  Must have a great home delivery business.  On top of that, some 3.5 million shares  in the "deli shop" were transferred to nominees based in Macau after the the share price had "magicallY" risen from $1,25 to $12.99, in just two years. Add to this, the transfer of sheres  was made  by a citizen of a Carribean island now living in Thailand. What's wrong with this picture, other than everything?Just another quality tourist making his way to Thailand.

[mikeymike100]

2 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

Wow, those red notices work pretty good. I’m not sure the Red Bull guy TIT.

Yes the red notices do seem to work pretty well, as is proven in this case, but in the case of the 'Red Bull guy' the red notice was issued but magically seemed to disappear?????

[mjakob007]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Jail terms for such crimes could reach 20 years.

not a Wai & 2000 baht fine!

[metisdead]

Off topic deflection posts and replies have been removed.

[ignore it]

UPDATE

Mr. Coker was unexpectedly released on his own recognizance and taken to an undisclosed location near an airport when it was disclosed that he is the grandson of the founder of Coca Cola.

[mushroomdave]

1 hour ago, The Old Bull said:

Thailand is not a good place to hide out. Should have gone somewhere with no extradition. When his father was arrested should have took off.

Exactly!!.....he should have picked up and left as soon as the other 2 were arrested.  I suspect Mr. Patten or good old dad gave up his location in a cooperation agreement/less sentence.  

[sammieuk1]

Silly man manipulation is a reserved occupation ???? 

[Homburg]

37 minutes ago, ignore it said:

UPDATE

Mr. Coker was unexpectedly released on his own recognizance and taken to an undisclosed location near an airport when it was disclosed that he is the grandson of the founder of Coca Cola.

Or Coker Cola?

[owl sees all]

32 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Silly man manipulation is a reserved occupation ???? 

'Low hanging fruit' comes to mind.

[oslooskar]

He should have gone to Norway and begged the authorities there not to extradite him to the U.S.A. on humanitarian grounds. The Norwegians have a very low opinion of the American prison system----------as they should.

[d4dang]

2 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

Thailand is not a good place to hide out. Should have gone somewhere with no extradition. When his father was arrested should have took off.

Burma?

[d4dang]

he is going from being on beaches to being a b_tch

[BKKBike09]

He was in the Macau gaming industry for a long time: latterly was chairman of HKEX listed South Shore Holdings, which took over Stephen Hung's 'The 13' casino/hotel project. South Shore is in debt to the tune of hundreds of millions.

 

Thailand is a good place to hang out because unless a foreign agency requests action, the local authorities have very little interest in pursuing foreign white collar criminals who haven't harmed Thais/Thailand.

[mberbae]

Amazing how fast they caught this guy - a matter of weeks.

But the RED BULL HEIR.....after 10 years, still Zero.

[LomSak27]

This white collar scammer, Mr Coker was unlucky in his choice of countries to flee too. Lucky for his victims, it could have ended differently. 
 

34 minutes ago, oslooskar said:

The Norwegians have a very low opinion of the American prison system----------as they should.

The US also holds a very low opinion of Euro justice ----- well deserved in this case.  Michael Mastro, found refuge in France. He made a fortune swindling old people, then skipped. Happily he is now remodeling a Chateau.

"They were arrested in 2012 in Lake Annecy, in the French Alps, and faced extradition hearings. After several months of house arrest, they were freed in June 2013 after a French court denied a request for their extradition back to the United States, finding that while they stole the life savings of elderly people, they themselves were too elderly to (potentially) be incarcerated." Mastro's bankruptcy has been described as the largest personal bankruptcy in the history of Washington state. Prior to the bankruptcy, the Mastros moved many of their assets, including a $15 million home in Medina, Washington, into an irrevocable trust based in Belize."

 

[SbuxPlease]

This is a sophisticated crime if true, most people wouldn't know how to pull it off.

 

So many white collar crimes go unpunished, I'm impressed the FBI bothered to track this guy down in Thailand.

[Mad mick]

4 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

Thailand is not a good place to hide out. Should have gone somewhere with no extradition. When his father was arrested should have took off.

Russia ????????

[BusyB]

4 hours ago, Homburg said:

Or Coker Cola?

Coker Kohle ... though that drink's for the Germans on the forum ????

[pomchop]

2 hours ago, mberbae said:

Amazing how fast they caught this guy - a matter of weeks.

But the RED BULL HEIR.....after 10 years, still Zero.

I would like to see a major thai tv news station have one of those countdown clocks on their daily news broadcast showing how many days/weeks/months/years police have been "unable" to locate red bull and return him to stand trail for killing a cop while hyped up on coke.....then a second clock counting down when statute of limitations expires and he can return to thailand like nothing ever happened,  BUT somehow I don't think the powers that be would be much in favor of a daily reminder of the corruption and incompetence of the Thai legal and judicial system.

 

Maybe if the current dear generals get voted out and a taksin heir takes over ms taksin may tell the cops to go get him.....that would be fun to watch as i would bet the current judges that have hounded taksin for so many years are many of the same that see no reason to arrest a guy for killing a cop and fleeing.

[spidermike007]

5 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

Yes the red notices do seem to work pretty well, as is proven in this case, but in the case of the 'Red Bull guy' the red notice was issued but magically seemed to disappear?????

Red notices work fine for foreigners living here. They don't work at all for Thai billionaires. We all know they are above the law. Any and all laws, here. No real effort was ever made to apprehend this murderous fool. The elite simply do not pursue their own. 

[NativeBob]

6 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

Thailand is not a good place to hide out. Should have gone somewhere with no extradition.

Israel. So far the safest haven.