$100 million New Jersey deli fugitive Peter Coker Jr. agrees to extradition to U.S. from Thailand

A erstwhile fugitive wanted connected transgression stock manipulation charges related to a money-losing New Jersey deli erstwhile valued astatine $100 cardinal has agreed to beryllium extradited from Thailand to the United States, Thai authorities said.

Peter Coker Jr., 54, was arrested past week by Thai constabulary successful the edifice country of Phuket, little than 4 months aft he, his father, Peter Coker Sr., and an associate, James Patten, were indicted successful New Jersey national court.

The charges subordinate to 2 publically traded companies, Hometown International, which owned lone a modest, now-closed deli successful Paulsboro, New Jersey, and E-Waste, a ammunition institution that had nary assets.

Coker Jr., who astir precocious was known to beryllium surviving and moving arsenic a businessman successful Hong Kong, is being held successful a Bangkok jailhouse for the adjacent respective weeks earlier his expected extradition, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Thai police, successful a statement, said Coker Jr., who is an American astir precocious known to beryllium surviving successful Hong Kong, had entered the state with a passport issued by the Caribbean land of St. Kitts and Nevis. That federation sells citizenship successful speech for investments there, the AP noted.

"Mr. Coker Jr. voluntarily consented to beryllium extradited to the U.S., which has simplified the court's ineligible process," Teerat Limpayaraya, a authoritative successful Thailand's Attorney General's office, told the AP.

"We person to implicit a 30-day waiting play arsenic required by Thai instrumentality earlier sending him back," said Teerat.

The authoritative said besides told the AP that Coker Jr. "was visibly frail erstwhile helium was taken successful and told america that helium needs aesculapian attraction for his liver disease. We judge that helium entered Thailand with a imaginable program to settee here."

U.S. prosecutors impeach the Cokers and Patten of a strategy to bid up the worth of shares of Hometown International and E-Waste, some of which had precocious marketplace capitalizations contempt holding small if immoderate assets of value, to marque them much charismatic to backstage firms arsenic merger candidates. Both companies aboriginal recovered merger partners.

Coker Jr. had served arsenic president of Hometown International.

While Pattan and Coker Sr., person made tribunal appearances since their arrest, Coker Jr. was believed to beryllium astatine ample until his apprehension past week.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office successful New Jersey, which is prosecuting the case, confirmed Coker Jr.'s apprehension successful Thailand, but declined to remark further.