He was allegedly involved in an investment scam through which he, 41-year-old Michael Wright of New Jersey and an unnamed associate claimed to be running a discount ticket broker business that never existed. Charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit those crimes against Carton and Wright were unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. Both men appeared in court Wednesday, dressed in shorts and t-shirts, and were released on $500,000 bond. 'Boomer & Carton' Co-Host Arrested in Alleged Ticket Scam 
 
 Craig Carton, co-host of WFAN's morning sports talk radio show "Boomer & Carton," has been arrested on investment fraud-related counts, an official familiar with the case tells NBC 4 New York. Federal prosecutors say he’s also a Ponzi schemer. “I thought he called in sick this morning, but unfortunately my partner was arrested,” Esiason told listeners. Once they got the investors' funds, Carton, Wright and the associate used them to pay personal debts and repay prior investors as part of a Ponzi-like scheme, the complaint alleges. Wright sent a Sept. 5 email that listed eight ideas for paying off the debt, but noted that: “Run to Costa Rica, change name, and start life all over again -- may not be an option.” 
 
 Instead, the group ramped up a ticket-reselling scheme, for which Carton and the co-conspirator had already taken in $1 million from an individual investor, according to the complaint. Carton provided fake documents, including contracts with a concert promoter for millions of dollars in tickets, and a phony email in which a sports and entertainment company agreed to sell $2 million of tickets to concerts, according to prosecutors. Meli was charged over the resale of tickets to the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton.” Since then, prosecutors have expanded the case and now claim that he and another man, Steven Simmons, used a hedge fund, Sentinel Growth Fund Management, to scam millions of dollars from investors. “I guess there’ll be more news to come from somewhere, but it won’t come from me because I don’t have any.” 
 
 “We are aware of the situation and are cooperating with authorities,” WFAN spokeswoman Jaime Saberito said in an emailed statement. "Their schemes were allegedly propped up by phony contracts with two companies to purchase blocks of concert tickets, when in fact, Carton and Wright had no deals to purchase any tickets at all," Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim said in a statement. The securities and wire fraud counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fines ranging from $250,000 to $5 million. Carton was arrested at his Manhattan home Wednesday and charged with ripping off investors, including a New York hedge fund, of millions of dollars in an alleged scam that involved buying and selling tickets to concerts that included Adele, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Barbra Streisand. Carton lied and claimed he had links to the management for those artists, as well as concert promoters and venue operators whose signatures he forged, federal officials charged. The civil case against Carton is tied to Joseph Meli, a New York-based businessman who was separately charged earlier this year with operating a Ponzi scheme that cheated wealthy people who thought they were investing in ticket businesses for popular shows and concerts, including Broadway's "Hamilton." Carton and Meli misappropriated at least $3.6 million from two investors, with Carton misappropriating an additional $2 million from one of those investors, according to the SEC's civil complaint, which references an email Carton wrote to Meli last year in which he said he had $2.5 million in outstanding debt due in 30 days after a casino froze his account. Carton, who has hosted the WFAN radio show with former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason since 2007, is the biggest name implicated to date. The hedge fund, which was not named by prosecutors, was Brigade Capital Management, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity.
– “I thought he called in sick this morning, but unfortunately my partner was arrested,” former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason told listeners of WFAN's Boomer & Carton show Wednesday. The New York Daily News reports New York morning show host Craig Carton was arrested Wednesday and charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy for allegedly scamming investors out of $5.6 million to pay off gambling debts. According to court filings, Carton had racked up millions in losses at two casinos and owed $825,000 to an unidentified person. In an email exchange released by the court, an accomplice suggested Carton could flee to Costa Rica or change his identity and start a new life to escape his debt, Bloomberg reports. Instead, Carton allegedly started a fake ticket reselling business. He allegedly told investors he would use their money to buy blocks of tickets for major music events through agreements with promoters and venues then resell those tickets, NBC New York reports. But: "Carton ... had no deals to purchase any tickets at all," US Attorney Joon Kim says. Kim says Carton was actually running "a sham, designed to fleece investors out of millions." Carton's alleged operation is described by authorities as "Ponzi-like." Carton, who has been co-hosting Boomer & Carton for a decade and reportedly earns $250,000 a year, is facing up to 45 years in jail and millions in fines. He's also facing a civil suit for fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission.