Daniel Pettit of Des Moines: Debt, Jail Time, and Bankruptcy Denial

Daniel Pettit, a former Johnston-based real estate developer who operated across the Des Moines metro, is accused of leaving creditors with roughly $230 million in unpaid debts tied to failed development projects, defaulted loans, and allegations that investor money financed his personal lifestyle. He served six months in jail for civil contempt, had his Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge denied in May 2025, and is believed to be hiding abroad. No criminal charges have been filed against him in Iowa.¹

Who Daniel Pettit Is

Pettit ran a real estate development business out of Johnston, a suburb of Des Moines, and controlled numerous limited liability corporations he used to structure projects and financing throughout the metro, particularly in Waukee and West Des Moines. He was once named one of the Jaycees’ “10 Outstanding Young Americans” and briefly ran for mayor of Waukee in 2011.²

In 2015, Pettit co-founded a faith-based nonprofit called Trailhead International Builders with his then-wife, Rachael. The organization said it built churches in impoverished countries including Guatemala and Cuba, and at one point enlisted former President George W. Bush to speak at a fundraiser at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. Pettit served as its president until 2022.³

The Failed Projects Behind the Debt

Pettit’s development portfolio included several large announced projects that were never completed under his leadership.

In 2019, he announced “The Quarter,” a $101 million, 40-acre entertainment district in Waukee, along with an 88,000-square-foot event and office space called the “Encompass Building.” Neither was built by Pettit. The site was later developed by others as “KeeTown Loop,” a $136.2 million complex built by Pan & Piper and Johnston Golf Development LLC. The Encompass Building property was foreclosed upon.³

In West Des Moines, Pettit used a limited liability corporation called DB Booneville to develop apartments, townhomes, and commercial space north of Des Moines University, marketed as The Village at Sugar Creek and Banks Landing. Lincoln Savings Bank loaned the entity nearly $10.3 million, and a separate $5.5 million promissory note was signed with DMU, Iowa Land, LLC, a corporation managed by venture capitalist Lowell Kraff. Both loans defaulted. Lincoln Savings Bank moved to foreclose after the loan matured in October 2022, and Chris Costa of Knapp Properties was appointed receiver for the DMU, Iowa Land loan. The developments were never built, and the City of West Des Moines had to work with an insurance company to ensure existing infrastructure bonds would be honored.³

Court documents indicated Pettit solicited investment funds for projects called Ashworth and Southbranch but never purchased the underlying real estate. He was also involved in a Johnston housing project with homebuilder Robert Orton. Availa Bank issued a $6.1 million construction loan to Orton, Orton Development, and Pettit for that project. After the developers defaulted, the bank foreclosed and purchased the land for $3.4 million in May 2026.⁴

How Much Is Owed

A 2023 Des Moines Register Watchdog investigation identified judgments and debts of nearly $70 million claimed against Pettit and his LLCs.³ When Pettit filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2024, he listed between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities and between $0 and $50,000 in assets, with 100 to 199 creditors.⁵ Creditors ultimately alleged the total debt was approximately $230 million.¹

Investors and lenders were spread across Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Utah, Florida, and Texas. More than two dozen cases were filed in Iowa courts alone, involving foreclosing banks, contractors filing mechanic’s liens, and individual investors who lost hundreds of thousands or millions.⁶

Among the largest individual judgments:

$9.3 million to investor Bernard Feldman, who had put money into Banks Landing, the Encompass Building, Ashworth, and Southbranch. Polk County Judge Jeanie Vaudt found that Pettit had “consistently not been forthcoming to plaintiffs about his true financial condition” and that it was reasonable to assume some investor funds had been used to support his personal lifestyle.³
$6.45 million (plus interest exceeding $1,500 per day) to Farm Credit Services of America.
$6.13 million to a Texas-based family trust connected to the purchase of a Bugatti sports car.
$5 million in damages and fees to Anderson Four LLC.
$4.5 million from a Minnesota court case.

Six Months in Jail for Civil Contempt

On November 30, 2023, Polk County Judge Jeanie Vaudt sentenced Pettit to six months in jail for civil contempt in three separate civil cases, finding he had repeatedly ignored court orders and failed to respond to subpoenas for financial records.³

Court records described the acts Judge Vaudt cited as willful defiance: liquidating accounts, attempting to write a check for a $275,000 Michael Jordan jersey, transferring roughly $100,000 from a personal account to a joint account with a woman in Nevada, and applying for a life insurance policy with a $10 million death benefit naming his own revocable trust as the beneficiary. Pettit failed to appear in early December 2023 to voluntarily begin his sentence and was arrested on January 12, 2024.⁷

Pettit was released from the Polk County Jail on June 17, 2024. Judge Vaudt ordered that he be supervised around the clock by Per Mar Security Services, at the expense of his creditors. He then moved into a home assessed at $474,000 in a newly built subdivision in North Liberty, owned by a limited liability corporation called Ace of Diamonds. A reporter who visited the residence in July 2024 saw no visible signs of security guards. Samuel Marks, an attorney representing Pettit’s ex-wife, told the Des Moines Register, “they should have arrested him the minute he walked out of jail.”⁸

Bankruptcy Discharge Denied

Pettit filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 25, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa.⁵ At an October 2024 creditors hearing conducted by Zoom, he was questioned about collectible items he had acquired, including a signature attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart he had kept in a safe. Pettit said he did not readily recall possessing the item.⁹

At that hearing Pettit testified under oath that he was living at his mother’s home in Cedar Rapids and temporarily staying in Sarasota, Florida, and that he held only two bank accounts. A federal court filing from March 2025 later revealed he had actually been traveling in Ghana, Tanzania, and the United Arab Emirates during the fall of 2024.¹⁰

In May 2025, Judge Lee Jackwig denied the discharge of Pettit’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a decision Pettit agreed to through his attorney. The denial meant Pettit remained personally responsible for his debts and creditors were free to resume collection.¹¹ Bankruptcy trustee Larry Eide said after the case closed that creditors were “free to do whatever they can legally to collect the debt.”¹

Where Pettit Is Now, and Why No Criminal Charges

Creditors and their attorneys have repeatedly pushed for criminal charges, but as of July 2025 none had been filed. The FBI, the Iowa Insurance Division, and local police all declined to discuss any criminal investigation with creditors or reporters.⁸ A nationwide warrant has been issued for Pettit’s arrest, but reporting indicated it is related to civil matters rather than criminal prosecution.¹²

Pettit’s current location is unknown. Reporting from early 2025 described him as “on the lam” and placed him in Africa and the Middle East during the fall of 2024. He left the country while his bankruptcy case was still active and has not returned. His creditors, collectively alleging roughly $230 million in losses, are left to pursue whatever legal remedies they can without a cooperative debtor or a bankruptcy discharge to resolve their claims.⁴

1
Des Moines Register. Daniel Pettit Bankruptcy Case, Millions Still Owed
2
Patch. Daniel Pettit Withdraws From Waukee Mayor’s Race
3
Des Moines Register. Des Moines Metro Developer, Charity Founder Daniel Pettit Owes Close to $70 Million
4
Des Moines Register. Iowa Homebuilder Robert Orton Lawsuits, Daniel Pettit
5
Des Moines Register. Johnston Developer Daniel Pettit Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
6
Des Moines Register. Johnston Iowa Developer Daniel Pettit Owes $60,000, California Couple Says
7
AOL. Investor Suing Embattled Johnston Developer
8
Des Moines Register. Daniel Pettit Living in North Liberty as Creditors Push for Charges
9
Des Moines Register. Ex-Johnston Developer Daniel Pettit Faces Lying Accusations at Bankruptcy Hearing
10
Des Moines Register. Where Is Daniel Pettit: Dubai, Ghana, Tanzania, Africa
11
Des Moines Register. Judge Tosses Bankruptcy Case of Johnston Developer Daniel Pettit as He Hides Abroad
12
Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Johnston Developer Daniel Pettit Accused of Fraud, Still Missing, Nationwide Warrant Issued