A local developer is seeking relief for more than $4 million in debt he owes to 85 creditors after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February.

Gary Goff, whose ill-fated Lakes at Crosspoint Development for Tomball never got off the ground, is requesting the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to relieve him of $4.8 million in debt. If granted by the court, Goff will be discharged of his existing debts.

However, several of his creditors are speaking out against the bankruptcy filing and against Goff himself, wondering where their investment money went.

Goff is the founder and managing partner of the Gadfy Group, a Tomball-based development company. According to the company’s Web site, which Goff admits has not been updated in “quite a long time,” the Gadfy Group lists nine major developments in Houston, Tomball, New Braunfels and Huntsville.

Under “Status of Development,” several of the projects are listed as under construction, under development or cite a grand opening date. However, Goff says none of the projects are in development, nor do any of the companies he created to manage them hold any assets.

Goff’s bankruptcy filing names 10 partnerships or corporations he established: Bridgewater Estates, L.P., Gadfy Angel Fire, L.L.C., Gadfy Angel Fire, Ltd., Gadfy Bridgewater Estates, L.L.C., Gadfy Mustang Island, L.L.C., Gadfy Mustang Island, L.P., Gadfy Office Park 101, L.L.C., Gadfy Office Park 101, L.L.P., H.W. Gadfy, L.L.C. and The Gadfy Group, L.P.

The bankruptcy filing reports none have any assets.

Now, several of his creditors are how wondering how Goff can squander nearly $5 million and have nothing to show for it.

Barbara Seber said her 87-year-old father, Frank Heiden, loaned Goff a total of $1.3 million, $290,000 of which was delegated for a development in New Braunfels that never came to fruition.

“He said he was going to pay us back, but never did. Where is the money?” Seber asked. “There is no way to spend $5 million and not know where it’s at.”

Goff explained that the economic recession is to blame for his failed projects.

“I don’t think it’s too hard for anyone to know what happened,” he said. “We lost our financing and couldn’t replace it. The banks took away our assets and that’s what happened.”

As for the 10 companies he created which he claims has no value, Goff said he only followed the advice of his attorneys.

“Companies that do what I do, they create separate entities for different projects,” he said. “I followed the advice of my attorneys and every project I’ve started, there has been a new entity for it.”

In March 2007, Goff announced plans for the Lakes at Crosspoint, a 250-acre upscale development that was proposed for the intersection of FM 2920 and FM 2978. The master planned community was to include Bridgewater Estates, a lakefront residential community, an event center, a data center, an office park and hotel.

The Gadfy Group Web site states that as of 2007, construction on Bridgewater Estates was “underway” and that 40 percent of the property had been sold. However, ground was never broken on any portion of the Lakes at Crosspoint project.

“I doesn’t belong to me anymore,” Goff said.

The United States Trustee Office has appointed Joseph Hill of Cage, Hill and Niehaus to be the trustee on the case.

Hill explained that a court could approve Goff’s bankruptcy claim, releasing him from all unsecured debts unless “someone objects and proves their case,” which Hill said is still under investigation.

“Obviously, you’ve got some irate investors,” he said. “And they believe that something doesn’t look right.”

Hill said he has requested financial records from Goff in an attempt to find out where some of the $4.8 million went, but Goff has yet to provide all of that information.

Goff’s bankruptcy claim could be denied, Hill explained, if he cannot come up with the proper financial documents.

Hill said he would soon file a motion to extend the deadline the creditors have to object to Goff’s debt discharge.

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