Bankruptcy Judge: Felon’s Name Must Stay on Scoreboard

A bankruptcy trustee’s quest to recoup money for investors defrauded by a Ponzi scheme has left a major California university in an uncomfortable situation.

For five years, the scoreboard at California Polytechnic State University’s football stadium has prominently displayed the name of Moriarty Enterprises—a onetime financial services firm run by Al Moriarty, a former Cal Poly athlete and longtime supporter of the university.

Now, as the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported, Mr. Moriarty is serving out a five-year prison sentence after pleading no contest to seven felony fraud charges tied to an illegal scheme that prosecutors say cost investors millions of dollars.

In light of Mr. Moriarty’s fall from grace, Cal Poly would like the felon’s name removed from its football stadium. The only problem? A bankruptcy judge in Seattle ruled last week that the sign must stay up while a trustee winding down Mr. Moriarty’s affairs negotiates with Cal Poly over the return of the $625,000 he paid the school for the naming rights, according to the Tribune.

In a statement to the Tribune, Cal Poly said the school had hoped to get the sign removed out of respect for Mr. Moriarty’s former investors, in part because, “We know that seeing his business’s name on our scoreboard is a fresh reminder of their pain.” Many of the defrauded investors also had ties to Cal Poly, the Tribune reports.

The trustee, meanwhile, insists in court filings that the money Mr. Moriarty paid to Cal Poly in 2009 belongs to creditors, and that covering up the sign before settlement talks are over removes an incentive for the school to cooperate.

The sullied sign didn’t seem to disarm the Cal Poly Mustangs, who on Saturday won their first home game of the season, 42-14, against Portland State.

Write to Sara Randazzo at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @sara_randazzo.