Gotech Plans to File for Bankruptcy Liquidation : Legal action: The building company owner has contacted a criminal lawyer. No criminal inquiry has been announced.

Gotech Builders Inc., the Orange County custom home builder facing an investigation by state authorities, has retained a bankruptcy lawyer to seek court-authorized protection from creditors as it dissolves.

In addition, Gotech owner Jeff Weiner has contacted a prominent Santa Ana criminal defense lawyer, Keith Monroe, according to a deputy state attorney general who was contacted by the attorney.

No criminal charges have been filed and no criminal investigation has been announced.

Although bankruptcy can halt civil lawsuits and forestall court-ordered payments to a company’s disgruntled customers, Deputy Atty. Gen. Anne Mendoza said Friday that a bankruptcy filing won’t derail the state’s investigation into Gotech for possible violations of state anti-fraud laws.

Monroe said Friday that he has discussed the investigation and other matters with Weiner although he has not been retained. “I would very likely be retained by him if the need arises,” he said.

Gotech has hired Costa Mesa bankruptcy lawyer Keith Meyer to handle the bankruptcy, Meyer’s assistant, Vanessa Stevens, said Friday.

Stevens, stressing that the law firm was retained by Gotech and not by Weiner individually, said that Meyer “is still gathering documents and preparing a Chapter 7 filing.” She said the lawyer expects to file the petition in federal bankruptcy court in Santa Ana within the next two weeks. Under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a company’s assets are sold to raise money to pay off debts to creditors.

Weiner could not be reached for comment Friday--the answering service intercepting calls to the company said it was told not to take any messages for him. Instead, all calls were referred to Meyer and Stevens.

The Times Orange County Edition reported in September that Gotech and another, now defunct, building company owned by Weiner have a shared history of collecting huge cash advances from clients and then not completing the jobs. The Times article also cited hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage judgments against the companies in private arbitration sessions since 1987.

In October the Contractors State License Board suspended Gotech’s license.