NYC Radio: Craig Carton Received Six-Figure 'Loans'

Craig Carton

A Brooklyn pharmacist and a strip-club manager testified Thursday at the Manhattan federal court fraud trial of onetime sports-talk-radio celebrity Craig Carton  that they were left holding the bag last year after giving the ex-WFAN star six-figure sums for his ticket business and his gambling.

Prosecutors have charged Carton with making false representations to raise more than $4 million from investors to buy blocks of event tickets and resell them at a profit, and then shuffling money among debts to earlier investors, personal expenses — including casino trips — and ticket deals.

According to Newsday, Ron delGaudio, the owner of four pharmacies, testified that after meeting Carton through a mutual friend he was persuaded to invest $1 million in a ticket deal in 2016 and made a quick 30 percent return, but then lost virtually all of a $900,000 investment in 2017 that was supposed to be only for tickets.

While the government contends emails and texts between Carton and two alleged co-conspirators show them scrambling to commingle money from ticket investors to pay off other lenders and gambling debts, a second witness Thursday said gambling loans weren’t always repaid either.

Desmond Finger, the manager of the gentlemen’s club Sapphire 39, said he gave Carton seven different short-term loans of $100,000 to $500,000 at high interest rates to finance casino trips in 2016 and 2017, where Carton’s stake would be matched by the house because of his celebrity status.

“It was a win-win situation,” testified Finger, who said his money came from work, real estate, and Casual Consulting, a business where he entertains club customers. His strip-club partner Michael Wright was also a partner of Carton in the ticket business, and has pleaded guilty.

The trial resumes on Monday.