Former WFAN 660 AM / 101.9 FM morning cohost Craig Carton says he has proof he was the victim — and not the perpetrator — of a $4.6 million Ponzi scheme that could land him up to 45 years in prison.
A lawyer for Carton says he recently received a letter from the government identifying the former co-host of the “Boomer and Carton” show as a victim of admitted ticket scammer Joseph Meli, who is widely believed to be one of Carton’s alleged co-conspirators.
“Meli used and defrauded countless people including Craig Carton,” his lawyer Robert Gottlieb told The NYPost.
Gottlieb’s statement comes on the same day the feds unveiled a grand jury indictment against Carton and Wright, charging them with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud following their arrest in September on similar charges.
The indictment says Carton and an unnamed co-conspirator invested $4.6 million in a hedge fund “with the understanding that the money would be used to finance the purchase of tickets to events.”
Instead, Carton, Wright and the unnamed co-conspirator “misappropriated” the money, using $1.6 million to repay investors, $1 million for casinos and $1.19 million to pay off debts for Carton and Wright, according to the indictment.
Carton also is accused of using $600,000 of the money to pay off a “gambling-related loan.”
On Tuesday, Meli pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 130 investors who invested more than $95 million with him after he falsely claimed he would purchase tickets to various live events for resale at a profit on the secondary market.
“These boilerplate letters are sweeping notifications that regularly get sent to non-victims and are proof of nothing,” said Meli’s lawyer, Daniel Fetterman of Kasowitz Benson Torres.
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