Norwich — Leaders of the Night Flight Basketball League said Thursday the league’s men’s and women’s divisions are in full swing this summer, unaffected by the recent arrest of former President James Maloney and a dispute between him and league officers.

Maloney, 36, a Board of Education member, was charged Monday with second-degree forgery after police said he forged an insurance document sent to the city Recreation Department for the league’s application to use the Jenkins Basketball court on High Street for a men’s tournament May 30 and 31. Maloney disputes the police report and said he will fight the charge.

“It’s an embarrassment to all of us,” league President Leonard Miller said Thursday. “We’re ashamed.”

But Miller and league Treasurer Cara Turner said Thursday the league has corrected the insurance issue and has reserved the Jenkins court for the summer for both men’s and women’s games and playoffs at the end of the season. The league has four men’s teams, with games played on Friday nights, and four women’s teams, which play on Thursdays. Each team has 10 players.

Teams pay fees to cover costs, including insurance, referees, trophies and the league’s donations to local youth and school sports and community programs.

Miller and Turner exchanged accusations with Maloney on Thursday and by late Thursday, Maloney said he had filed a civil lawsuit in New London Superior Court against the league leaders for defamation of character over their accusations that Maloney misused league funds.

A court clerk said late Thursday that the file was not yet available for public viewing.

Maloney said he had resigned as president of the league, but Miller and Turner said the committee ousted him when the insurance issue that led to the criminal charge was being investigated, to “distance ourselves” from Maloney.

Miller, a former star player at Norwich Free Academy, said formation of the adult league was his idea. He said he had met Maloney at a Greeneville back-to-school bash event and worked with him to set up a winter men’s league last year. The group formed a committee and elected Maloney president.

When the group started planning for the summer season, Miller said committee members were “baffled” at the delays in securing the basketball court just two weeks before the start. He said committee members did not know about the insurance trouble until Maloney brought an insurance paper from the Tabernacle of Deliverance and Praise, which was to replace the policy that was canceled for nonpayment and subject of the forgery investigation.

But Miller said the church withdrew that coverage after learning the insurance was sought for an adult basketball summer league and not for a youth event, as church officials had believed.

Turner said the league now has insurance through Kids’ Christmas Inc., a Norwich-based nonprofit that runs annual Christmas parties. Night Flight will seek its own nonprofit status this year, she said.

“We just want it to be known the actions of James Maloney were his own,” Turner said Thursday, “and we removed him from the committee. He did not step down.”

Miller questioned Maloney’s handling of other league financial matters, including the rental fee for the Kelly Middle School gymnasium for the winter league. Miller said the league charged teams $450 each, with fees covering the rental cost, referees, trophies and other league expenses. The total for the gym was supposed to be $3,100, but Miller said a receipt he received from Norwich Superintendent Abby Dolliver showed the rental fee at $2,000 and said Maloney never accounted for how the remainder was spent.

Maloney said he placed the money in a bank account and used it to purchase youth basketball T-shirts for Norwich middle school teams, trophies, a plaque and to pay referees. Miller and Turner countered that other league funds paid for those things, and when money ran out, members chipped in to buy things and pay referees.

Maloney said the accusations of mishandling funds led him to file the defamation lawsuit to protect his reputation. “It’s something I don’t want to do, but I felt like I needed to do it,” he said.

c.bessette@theday.com