Craig Carton, who co-hosts a WFAN sports radio show with former NFL Most Valuable Player Boomer Esiason, has been arrested and accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars with a phony ticket resale business.
Federal authorities say Carton defrauded people out of $5.6 million, money he needed because he had huge gambling debts. Those debts include millions of dollars in losses at two casinos and $825,000 he owes to an unidentified individual.
The criminal complaint says Carton sent fake documents and forged emails to his business partners to keep them from realizing the whole ticket resale business was a giant scam.
“Carton’s deceit did not stop with providing fake documents . . . When [one investor] made its $2 million investment, Carton misappropriated the money by lying,” court papers said.
Carton was replaced by a fill-in co-host on this morning’s show. Esiason said on the air that at first he thought Carton had called in sick but then learned that, “Unfortunately my partner was arrested.”
“We are aware of the situation and are cooperating with authorities,” CBS Radio said in a statement.
The 48-year-old Carton has long made a name for himself with a brash talk-radio personality that makes him come across at times like a jerk nozzle. When he wrote a memoir in 2013, the title was Loudmouth. Today, authorities reminded him he has the right to remain silent.