Wanted US financial ‘fraudster’ held in Phuket after fleeing arrest
>>A 54-year-old man wanted by the United States for allegedly manipulating stocks and colluding in fraud to help his company grow was arrested in Phuket’s Thalang district.
Peter Coker Jr, a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis, was arrested on Wednesday in a hotel room near Surin Beach, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said yesterday.
The arresting team was led by Pol Maj Gen Montri Khetkhan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, and the US Federation Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Mr Coker Jr was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on Dec 27, as he was on red and black notices issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for colluding in stock fraud, fraudulent manipulative securities trading and related offences.
The CIB chief said Mr Coker Jr and his business partners had taken over an instant food company in the US in 2014 and planned to expand operations to list on the US stock market.
In 2019, Mr Coker Jr and his partners managed to enter the US stock market, he said. They set the company’s public offering (IPO) price at US$1.25 (41 baht) before hiring some stock traders to manipulate company stock prices, said Pol Lt Gen Jiraphob.
On April 16, 2021, the company’s share price jumped to $12.99 per share. The suspect and his accomplices allegedly also transferred 3.5 million shares to nominees in the Macao Special Administrative Region of China. This made Coker Jr a major holder of the firm, said the CIB chief.
The suspect had his accomplices pull strings to manipulate company stocks, according to a US investigation.
The New Jersey Federal Court issued arrest warrants for Mr Coker Jr and his accomplices for colluding in stock fraud and stock manipulation. The offences were liable to a jail term of up to 20 years. Peter Coker Sr, the suspect’s father, and James Patten, another person allegedly involved, were arrested in the US while Mr Coker Jr fled.
An FBI office in Bangkok later found the suspect had fled to Thailand. The agency sought cooperation from the CIB to help locate his whereabouts. Police began tracking him down to a hotel in Phuket where they arrested him, said Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop.
During questioning, the suspect admitted he was the man on the Interpol notices.