Bizarre saga of $100-million deli/bioplastic maker wraps up with fraud charges

In New Jersey, the former owner of a deli at the center of a bizarre $100-million securities fraud scheme has pled guilty to federal charges.

James Patten was one of three owners of a public company behind Your Hometown Deli, which went viral in 2021 for its $100-million valuation despite sales of less than $30,000. Hedgie David Einhorn famously used the modest Paulsboro deli as an example of public market chicanery. “The pastrami must be amazing,” he said at the time. The story got even more bizarre when CNBC reported that Hometown’s CEO, Paul Morina, was the local high school’s wrestling coach. 

The deli eventually went on to merge with hemp bioplastics company Makamer Holdings, which unsurprisingly determined the deli business was not core to its operations and sold the sandwich operations for $15,000 (plus another $700 in inventory). A web address for Makamer, whose offerings included compostable sporks, is now defunct.