In September 2002, Moreno, while a candidate in October elections for places on the Quito city council, was suspended for twenty matches[5] and investigated by Ecuadorian football authorities and FIFA[6] after a match he officiated between Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and Barcelona Sporting Club from Guayaquil. With Liga de Quito trailing 3–2 at the end of the match, Moreno signalled six minutes of injury time, then allowed play to continue for thirteen minutes, during which Liga de Quito scored an equaliser in the 99th minute, then won the game in the 101st minute. Moreno was also accused of falsifying the minutes in which Liga de Quito scored their equalising and winning goals in his official match report.
In May 2003, in his third game back from his suspension, Moreno was again suspended, for one match, after he sent off three players from visiting Deportivo Quito in a 1–1 draw at Deportivo Cuenca. He retired the following month, blaming low performance marks for his retirement. Even after all this, he is still regarded as one of the worst referees to have ever been in the World Cup.
Moreno was arrested on September 21, 2010 at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, while trying to smuggle in six kilograms (over ten pounds) of heroin, which was hidden in his underwear.[9] In January 2011, he pled guilty to the charges in a New York courthouse, facing a possible ten years in prison.[10] On September 23, 2011 Moreno was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on the heroin smuggling charges. He was released from prison 26 months later and returned to Ecuador.