Radio broadcaster Craig Carton was arrested by FBI agents at his Manhattan home on Wednesday, charged in a scam involving concert tickets. Carton co-hosts the "Boomer and Carton" morning sports radio talk show on CBS New York's WFAN with former NFL player Boomer Esiason.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that it has charged Carton along with Joseph Meli, the New York City businessman involved in another Ponzi scheme that involved "Hamilton" tickets, with running the concert ticket scam, which was used to cover Carton's gambling debts.
The 26-page SEC complaint filed in federal district court in Manhattan alleges that the men falsely claimed they had access to large blocks of face-value tickets to popular concert performances, like Adele.
The SEC complaint demands a jury trial. The complaint states that Carton had debts — including gambling ones — totaling approximately $3 million, $825,000 of which was owed to an individual.
Investors, the complaint states, were "falsely promised high returns from the price markups in ticket resales."
Instead of purchasing tickets for resale, Carton and Meli "allegedly misappropriated at least $3.6 million to repay earlier investors and cover such other expenses as Carton's gambling debts."
Carton, the complaint continues, allegedly stole an additional $2 million by tricking a concert venue into forwarding an investor's money into a bank account belonging to one of Carton's companies.
