WFAN Radio Host Craig Carton Arrested in Concert Ticket Scam

According to the SEC’s complaint, one investor was provided documents falsely representing that large blocks of Adele tickets were being purchased at face value directly from Adele’s management company when in fact no such agreement was in place. 

Advance Entertainment LLC, founded and solely owned by Meli, made the “false representation” that the company “owns and/or controls” $15 million worth of Adele tickets at face value, according to the complaint.

The complaint also states that Carton provided to the investor fictitious agreements for entities controlled by Meli or Carton to purchase at face value, directly from a concert promoter or venue, 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,” the complaint says.

CBS Radio issued a statement saying, “We are aware of the situation and are cooperating with authorities.”

Meli, 43, lives in New York City and is the founder and sole owner of defendant Advance Entertainment LLC. He was separately charged earlier this year with operating a Ponzi scheme involving purported resales of tickets to the Broadway musical “Hamilton” and other events.

“As alleged in our complaint, investors were lured with promises of big profits from resales of A-list concert tickets, but little did they know their money was being used to cover Carton’s gambling debts among other things,” said Paul Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.