Craig Carton: 'You'll See That I Am Not Guilty Of These Charges'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- WFAN host Craig Carton broke his silence Tuesday, nearly a week after he was arrested on conspiracy and securities fraud charges in an alleged ticket-selling scam.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account, the "Boomer and Carton" morning show co-host wrote: "I want to thank my family, friends and fans and especially Boomer (Esiason) for the outpouring of public and private support I've received over the past few days.
"As you can imagine, it's been incredibly hard to be silent while there is an endless stream of vitriol being hurled my way, but I'm confident that when the facts come out, you'll see that I am not guilty of these charges," he added.
"My fight has only just begun and I know when this strange episode is over, I'll be back, stronger than ever.
"Thank you for all the kind words and good wishes as I continue on with one of the greatest battles of my life."
In a civil complaint filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court's Southern District of New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that beginning in or around the middle of 2016, Carton, 48, accrued millions of dollars' worth of gambling-related debts to casinos and other third parties.
He allegedly solicited investments in ticket reselling enterprises purportedly engaged in purchasing and reselling large blocks of concert tickets for substantial profits, either on his own or through New York-based businessman Joseph Meli.
The civil complaint states the pair presented "millions of dollars' worth of tickets to upcoming concerts by the artists Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Roger Waters, Metallica and Barbra Streisand. In reality, no such agreements with the concert promoter or venue existed, and the signatures for the concert promoter or venue were forged.
"In certain cases, Meli provided these fake agreements to Carton, for the express purpose of having Carton pass them along to an investor," the complaint states. "Carton provided to another investor documents referencing a purported agreement by an entity controlled by Meli to purchase millions of dollars' worth of Adele concert tickets at face value, directly from Adele's management company."
The complaint alleges that together Meli and Carton stole $3.6 million. Carton alone is accused of stealing $2 million from a single investor.
WFAN has suspended Carton pending an investigation.
Carton is due back in court Oct. 6.
CBS Radio is the parent company of WFAN, 1010 WINS and WCBS 880.
