OJ Simpson's book rights may go to victim's dad

MIAMI, June 15 (Reuters) - O.J. Simpson set up a shell company to hide his book profits from the family of Ron Goldman, which is trying to collect a wrongful death judgment against the former football star, a U.S. judge ruled on Friday.

Lorraine Brooke Associates, a now-bankrupt Miami company owned by Simpson's four children, was a mere conduit to hold the rights for Simpson's book, "If I Did It," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jay Cristol ruled.

The book was billed as a hypothetical account of how Simpson could have murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Goldman. Publisher Harper Collins scrapped it in November amid a public uproar.

Simpson said he did not commit the 1994 killings and a jury acquitted him of murder in 1995, but Goldman's family won a $38 million wrongful death judgment against him two years later.

A California court ruled that Lorraine Brooke Associates was a surrogate company for Simpson and ordered an auction of the book rights with the proceeds going to Goldman's father, Fred Goldman.

The Miami company filed for bankruptcy four days before the auction was scheduled in April, halting the auction.

The Miami bankruptcy judge's finding clears the way for Fred Goldman to pursue a claim to the book rights, which are held by a court-appointed trustee for the bankrupt company, said one of Fred Goldman's lawyers, David Cook.

"Judge Cristol ruled that Lorraine Brooke Associates is a speed bump on Goldman's journey, for his quest to justice," Cook said.

He said Goldman would sell the rights to publish the book under a revised name - "I Did It," or possibly "Confessions of an Acquitted Murderer."

Cook said the Goldmans had so far collected only about $2,000 from Simpson, mostly from his movie royalties.