The criminal charges against benched WFAN host and accused fraudster Craig Carton are based on “a gross misunderstanding of what happened,” according to a statement issued Friday by one of his defense lawyers.

Carton is “a good man” and “a victim who was deceived, manipulated and used by individuals seeking to gather assets for their own fraudulent schemes,” lawyer Robert Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb also said Carton’s Tourette syndrome charity, TicTocStop, “has sponsored a $340,000 study by the University of Tennessee Dental School to develop a revolutionary new treatment for patients with mild to moderate Tourette Syndrome.”

“Currently in review with the FDA, the appliance, called the Tic Guard, has shown an average tic reduction (both motor and vocal) of 39%. Every year the foundation also fully funds Camp Carton, a sleep-away summer camp serving children ages 9–13 years old that are suffering from Tourette’s,” Gottlieb added.

Carton and two of his four kids suffer from the disorder.

TicTocStop’s IRS filings show it has raised more than $1 million since 2013, with most of the cash spent on galas, golf outings and other celeb-studded events.

The records don’t detail any spending on the Tic Guard or Camp Carton, and show only two unexplained “contributions,” totaling $103,390, in 2013 and 2014.

Its most recent filing, for 2015, shows nothing spent on actual “program expenses,” which the Charity Navigator watchdog group called a “major red flag.”

Gottlieb released his statement after TicTocStop removed Carton’s name from the home page of its Web site, along with a photo gallery that showed the suspended sports-talk radio host posing with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and numerous ex-athletes at big-bucks fund-raisers.

Links to to pages containing Carton’s bio, a “Founder’s Message” and more pictures were also removed.

A video featuring Carton remained on the home page, and another one promoting Camp Carton was added later Friday.

Carton, 48, was busted Wednesday in an alleged $5.6 million Ponzi scheme involving a sham ticket-reselling operation that promised investors huge returns on seats at performances by pop stars including Adele, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Barbra Streisand.

The feds say Carton perpetrated the fraud, with the help of two alleged accomplices, to help pay off around $3 million in gambling debts.

A spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which filed conspiracy and fraud charges against Carton and co-defendant Michael Wright, declined to comment.