EXCLUSIVE
Carton’s do-nothing charity may have been tool for Ponzi scheme
By
Bruce Golding
September 7, 2017 | 8:08pm |
Updated
Internal Revenue Service records show the Tic Toc Stop non-profit has raised more than $1 million since Carton — who was
suspended from his sports-talk radio job following his arrest Wednesday — founded it in 2013 to “fight against Tourette Syndrome.”
Carton and two of his four kids suffer from the condition.
But nearly all the cash raised has been spent on something other than Tourette syndrome, including a series of golf outings, galas and other fund-raising events.
Indeed, photos posted on the charity’s Web site show Carton palling around with retired pro athletes including Mets reliever John Franco, Yankees catcher Rick Cerone and Knicks guard John Starks at one of the big-bucks fund-raisers.
In its IRS filings, Tic Top Stop lists two unexplained “contributions” totaling $103,390 made in 2013-’14. Even if that entire amount went to treatment or research that would account for less than 10 percent of what the charity has taken in, the filings reveal.
An expert with the Charity Navigator watchdog group said the lack of any “program expenses” in its most recent, 2015 filing raised a “major red flag.”
“We rarely ever see organizations report zero for program expenses,” Katie Rusnock said.
“We occasionally see low ratios, but this is definitely far outside the norm.”
Earlier this year, Tic Top Stop’s fourth annual celebrity golf outing was co-chaired by board member Doug Pardon, who The Post has identified as the “hedge fund partner” Carton targeted to allegedly scam $4.6 million from Brigade Capital Management.
Carton and two alleged accomplices are accused of creating a sham ticket-reselling operation to defraud the fund and an unidentified “individual investor” to help Carton pay off around $3 million in gambling debts.
Part of the scheme allegedly involved the use of phony documents detailing an agreement for Carton to purchase $2 million worth of seats to shows by Barbra Streisand and Metallica at face value, directly from the venue at which both acts were scheduled to perform.
The only place to have hosted both Streisand and Metallica this year is the Nassau Coliseum, which is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. That company is also listed on Tic Tic Stop’s web site as a supporter.
Although Carton didn’t use any of the hedge fund’s $2 million to buy tickets, court papers say he later tried to cover his tracks by using his personal credit card to buy around $345,000 worth of Streisand tickets and $16,000 worth of Metallica tickets directly from the venue.
Carton — who’s not a licensed ticket reseller, according to the Department of State — also allegedly bought another $500,000 worth of tickets to a second Streisand show at a different venue.
The only other place Babs performed this year was the Barclays Arena, which is also owned by Brooklyn Sports. Neither Brooklyn Sports, Carton’s defense lawyer nor Tic Toc Stop’s chief financial officer, Steve Kent, returned requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli
