A former Grover Beach financial investment advisor suspected of pilfering millions of dollars from his clients and charged with fraud and embezzlement will spend the foreseeable future in jail, after a judge denied his request to reduce his bail.
On June 12, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Duffy ruled that bail for Al Moriarty, 80, will remain set at $5 million due to the amount allegedly taken from his victims, currently conservatively estimated at $3.2 million.Â
Moriarty’s attorney had argued that he wasn’t a flight risk and had ties to the community.
Moriarty filed bankruptcy in July 2012, claiming a debt of approximately $22 million to creditors.Â
Another preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 3.
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 4, 2013.