NYC Radio: WFAN's Craig Carton Busted In Ticket Scheme

Craig Carton

 Craig Carton, co-host of the Boomer & Carton morning show on Sports talker WFAN 660 AM / 10.19 FM has been arrested on investment fraud-related counts in connection with an alleged $2M fake ticket scam.

NBC4 In New York reports the FBI arrested Carton, 48, at his home in Manhattan early Wednesday, the sources said.

He was allegedly involved in an investment scam through which he and another man claimed to be running a discount ticket broker business that never existed, according to the sources.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed that Carton had been arrested and charged with securities fraud and wire fraud.

The two allegedly ripped a few investors off of a few million dollars. Details on the investigation were expected to be released later Wednesday.

Married and a father of four, Carton has co-hosted the popular sports talk show with Boomer Esiason since September 2007. He started his career in Buffalo in 1991, with stops along the way in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Denver.

The criminal complaint wasn’t immediately available, but a related lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission said Carton and another man, Joseph Meli, raised more than $5 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme claiming access to tickets for resale to concerts including Adele, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Barbra Streisand.

Carton allegedly used the money to pay off "millions of dollars’ worth of gambling-related debts to casinos and other third parties," the complaint in Manhattan federal court alleges.

“Carton and Meli used new investor funds to repay earlier investors and other pre-existing debts, including Carton’s debt to casinos, rather than to purchase tickets for resale as promised,” the SEC said in its complaint.



According to The NYDaily News, a 26-page Securities and Exchange Commission filing accused Carton of lying to his investors, going as far as to send phony documents and e-mails to his unsuspecting business partners.

“Carton’s deceit did not stop with providing fake documents ... When (one investor) made its $2 million investment, Carton misappropriated the money by lying,” according to the court papers.

“I am aware now why Craig is not here this morning,” Esiason told listeners Wednesday. “Unfortunately, he was arrested this morning ... I’m taken aback and surprised by it, just like everybody else is.

“I thought he called in sick this morning, but unfortunately my partner was arrested.”



CBS Radio, the parent company of WFAN, released a statement saying they were aware of the arrest and cooperating with authorities.

Carton earns a reported $250,000 a year as the sports radio station’s morning drive-time co-host.