The sports radio personality is accused of running a Ponzi scheme to pay off gambling debts.
NEW YORK — Sports radio personality Craig Carton was arrested Wednesday on fraud charges alleging he and others used a Ponzi scheme and a concert ticket-selling scam for acts including Katy Perry to try to raise millions of dollars to pay off gambling debts.
Conspiracy, securities and wire fraud charges were unsealed in Manhattan federal court against the host of WFAN’s “Boomer and Carton” show.
A related Securities and Exchange Commission case accused Carton of soliciting investments in ticket reselling enterprises in 2016 after he accrued millions of dollars’ worth of gambling-related debts to casinos and other third parties.
Carton has hosted the sports-themed radio program broadcast on WFAN since 2007 with former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason.
FBI agents arrested Carton at his Manhattan home at 3: 45 a.m. Wednesday before he could leave for work at a show that starts at 6 a.m.
Esiason said he was shocked.
“I’ m taken aback and surprised by it, just like I’ m sure everyone else is, ” Esiason told WFAN listeners. “I thought he had called in sick this morning. But, unfortunately, my partner was arrested.”
The SEC alleged Carton provided fabricated and forged documents to investors, claiming access to large quantities of face-value tickets to upcoming concerts by artists including Perry, Adele, Justin Bieber, Roger Waters, Metallica and Barbra Streisand.
“In reality, no such agreements with the concert promoter or venue existed, and the signatures for the concert promoter or venue were forged, ” the SEC said.
Federal prosecutors said Carton teamed up with Michael Wright, of Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, to carry out a fraud on investors by posing as power brokers in the concert ticket business.
