MANHATTAN (CelebrityAccess) The fraud trial of former sports-talk radio star Craig Carton, accused of running a ticketing resale scheme, continues in a Manhattan federal court with testimony from Barclays Center execs and a Brooklyn pharmacist and a strip-club manager.
Carton, who used to be a talk-show star of WFAN, is charged with making false representations to raise more than $4 million from investors to buy blocks of tickets and resell them at a profit, but in turn using the money to pay off debts to previous investors, not to mention covering Carton’s own personal debts.
Two top executives of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which owns Barclays Center and the Nassau Coliseum, recently testified that they did not have any agreement with Carton to provide him with blocks of tickets despite emails that may imply otherwise. Carton apparently forwarded emails to his investors that suggested he had an agreement with BS&E that guaranteed him blocks of tickets but Barclays chief of staff Fred Mangione disputed that , saying on cross-examination that the radio personality had preferred access to buy tickets for years but “I told him it would be event by event on multiple occasions,” according to Newsday.
Even if such agreements existed, US District Judge Colleen McMahon, outside the presence of the jury, warned defense attorney Robert Gottlieb that “when you start faking emails to pay gambling debts … the fact that you had a million legitimate ticket deals in the past is no defense.”
Meanwhile, Ron delGuadio, owner of four pharmacies, testified that he was persuaded to invest $1 million in a ticket deal with Carton in 2016 that brought a quick 30 percent return but in 2017 lost $900,000. DelGuadio said he thought his investment was only for tickets but unknowingly it was being used to “pay casinos” (Carton allegedly used investment money for personal expenses such as casino trips).
Desmond Finger, manager of gentlemen’s club Sapphire 329, said he gave Carton seven short-term loans between $100,000 and $500,000 at high interest rates to finance casino trips. Finger testified under a grant of immunity that Carton initially paid back the six loans but the final $500,000 loan in 2017 was not repaid.
“He kind of yessed me and yessed me and yessed me,” Finger said, according to Newsday. “I never got a factual date.”
