Bergen Man, N.Y. Radio Host Accused Of Running Ponzi Scheme To Pay Debts

WFAN radio host Craig Carton and a Bergen County man are accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars by running a "Ponzi-like" ticket scheme to pay their personal debts, authorities announced Wednesday.

Carton, 48, Michael Wright, 41, of Upper Saddle River, and another person are charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's Southern District said in a statement.

Carton was arrested at his Manhattan home Wednesday, NJ.com reported.

Carton, Wright and the other person worked together to get investors to pay them millions of dollars that would be used to purchase blocks of tickets, which would then be resold on the secondary market, Joon Kim, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and William Sweeney Jr., the assistant director-in-charge of the FBI's New York office.

Watch: WFAN's Craig Carton Arrested On Charges Of Ticket Ponzi Scheme

Carton and the unnamed person got the tickets based on agreements the person had with a concert promotions company and that Carton had a company that operates two arenas in the New York metro area, Kim said.

Neither company had any agreement with any of the three people, officials said. After they got the funds, the people allegedly used the funds to pay personal debt, including gambling debt, and repay investors.

"As alleged, behind all the talk, the Wright and Carson show was just a sham, designed to fleece investors out of millions ultimately to be spent on payments to casinos and to pay off other personal debt," Kim said in a statement.

Wright, Carton and the unnamed person exchanged emails and text messages regarding their debts in the fall of 2016, authorities said.

On Sept. 5, 2016, for example, Wright emailed Carton and the unnamed person “for the sake of our conversation tomorrow,” and outlined “the debt past due and due next week," authorities said. Wright listed several apparent creditors, to whom he, CC-1 and Carton were personally indebted for more than $1 million.

Wright listed eight possible options for repaying the debt, including “Run to Costa Rica, change name, and start life all over again – may not be an option," officials said. Carton responded to Wright [and the unnamed person] stating “don’t forget I have $1m coming tomorrow from ticket investor [.] will need to be discussed how to handle.”

On Sept. 7, 2016, Carton emailed Wright and the other person, referenced a potential investor in an upcoming holiday concert tour, and suggested “borrow[ing] against projected profits” on that investment, officials said.

The criminal complaint outlined how an unidentified hedge fund gave Carton a revolving loan agreement that would give him up to $10 million to buy tickets with the understanding that the fund would share in the profits, authorities said.

Carton reportedly wired $133,000 to several casinos after having access to $700,000 from a hedge fund that he and Wright allegedly defrauded.

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Photo: In this Aug. 30, 2012, file photo, Craig Carton talks during the National Football League Back to Football Run at Central Park in New York. Federal officials said the New York sports radio host is in custody and details of the charges against the host of WFAN-AM’s “Boomer and Carton” show were not immediately made public Wednesday. (John Minchillo/AP Images for NFL/Associated Press)