In the world of New York sports radio, Craig Carton is known as the quick-witted, unpredictable, top-rated co-host of a morning drive-time show that moves quickly from football to family life to sports betting. Federal prosecutors say he’s also a Ponzi schemer.

Carton was arrested Wednesday and charged with ripping off investors of millions of dollars in an alleged scam that involved buying and and selling tickets to concerts by Adele, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Barbra Streisand. U.S. regulators said he used the money to pay off gambling debts.

The arrest is the latest in a widening probe of alleged fraud in the ticket-resale industry. Carton, who has hosted the WFAN radio show with former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason since 2007, is the biggest name implicated to date. Esiason isn’t accused of wrongdoing.

Carton, 48, was arrested at his home in Manhattan by FBI agents , a spokeswoman for the agency said. He and a co-defendant, Michael Wright, 41, of Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, are charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Both men are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Carton’s arrest comes as entertainers and lawmakers focus on the ticket-reselling industry, a lightly regulated world where consumers are often scammed or misled. Last year, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman finished a three-year probe into concert and sports ticket resellers, promising to better protect consumers.

Artists, including Bruce Springsteen, have begun using more rigorous verification methods to ensure that fans, not brokers, are able to purchase access to their shows, while many sports teams have begun limiting access that brokers have to their tickets.

Ponzi Claim

On Wednesday, Carton was also sued for fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said that Carton and another man, Joseph Meli, raised more than $5 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme claiming access to tickets for resale. Meli wasn’t named in the criminal complaint filed Wednesday but is charged in a separate criminal case.

Carton racked up millions of dollars of gambling-related debts, according to the SEC. As those debts mounted, he considered a range of options. “Run to Costa Rica, change name and start life over gain -- may not be an option," Wright told Carton in an email, included in the criminal complaint.

Instead, he used investors’ money to pay off the debts, the SEC said.

This winter, Carton and Esiason’s show ranked first in the New York area among men ages 25 to 53, according to Arbitron’s winter ratings book. In an August interview with Newsday, Esiason said Carton’s personality drove their show.

"Let him drive the narrative when it’s negative or when it goes into any sort of impersonation, and let’s play off of what he does, because he’s very talented that way," Esiason told the newspaper. "I know he has got other issues, but the other issues are what make him who he is.

"He has ADD. He has a touch of Tourette’s. He has restless leg syndrome, partially photographic memory. He can’t sleep. That is what makes him the radio star that he is . . . Like any quarterback would on a football field, you recognize what people do well and try to get them the ball in that situation."

Carton, who titled his memoir “Loudmouth,” and Esiason replaced Don Imus’s morning show on WFAN on Sept. 4, 2007 after Imus lost his job for making a comment viewed as racist and sexist. Their Boomer And Carton In The Morning show has won praise from the likes of Jon Stewart and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who auditioned for a WFAN show after his term ends in January.

Partner Arrested

This morning, Esaison spoke to Carton’s arrest, according to the New York Post. “I thought he called in sick this morning, but unfortunately my partner was arrested,” Esaison told listeners. “I guess there’ll be more news to come from somewhere, but it won’t come from me because I don’t have any.”

Joshua Klein, a lawyer for Carton, and Jonathan Davidoff, who represents  Wright, didn’t immediately return voicemails seeking comment on the charges.

“We are aware of the situation and are cooperating with authorities,” WFAN spokeswoman Jaime Saberito said in an emailed statement.

Meli, 43, was charged in January in an alleged reselling scheme involving 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. A third man, Mark Varacchi, has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Several big names -- including billionaires Paul Tudor Jones and Michael Dell, as well as an executive at Och-Ziff Capital Management Group -- were among the more than 125 people who had unwittingly poured cash into the Hamilton scam, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The SEC case is U.S. v Carton, 17-cv-6764, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.