Former clients of The Castleton Group, the Raleigh company that businesses trusted to manage payroll, insurance and retirement plans, for the first time will face Castleton's founder and president. Suzanne Clifton will appear for questioning under oath.

To accommodate a bigger -- and likely angrier -- crowd, officials have moved the proceeding to a courtroom from a smaller venue where such meetings are normally held.

Castleton abruptly ceased operations in December after the state refused to issue a necessary license and after the disclosure that Castleton owed millions in federal taxes that it was supposed pay on behalf of the businesses it represented.

Castleton's action, followed by the bankruptcy filing four days later, sent about 100 clients and their 3,500 employees scrambling for insurance coverage and other services. They were caught off guard by Castleton's demise, because the company for years maintained an image of strength.

"The first thing I want to hear is how she portrayed herself and her company as being so successful and so profitable and have this happen," said Turner Revels, president of Revels Turf and Tractor in Fuquay-Varina, a former Castleton client. He will be out of town Thursday but is sending his lawyer.

"I knew her personally, had actually referred business to her company," he said. "I feel betrayed."

Castleton's troubles had been brewing behind the scenes for years, with the company at least twice before running afoul of tax authorities. The state Department of Insurance had earlier refused to award it a license. Officials deemed Castleton insolvent even before they knew of the back taxes it owed.

Clifton has blamed the company's former chief financial officer for the tax problem. The company owes the Internal Revenue Service $11.2 million, according to Castleton's filings in the bankruptcy case.

The bankruptcy documents, though, raise questions about Clifton's actions. They show, for instance, that Clifton pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Castleton, even as the company was losing money.

Clifton, as Castleton's president, was supposed to sign off on the truthfulness of those filings when they were submitted to the court. But she didn't, saying in a separate filing that she has not been permitted access to Castleton's financial records.

Her attorney, Stephani W. Humrickhouse, said that she had worked with a trustee assigned to the bankruptcy case and with the U.S. Attorney's Office so that Clifton could review financial records. Asked what the U.S. attorney, who normally is associated with criminal matters, was doing, Humrickhouse said: "I have no idea."

On Tuesday, Clifton was granted access to some electronic files on Castleton's operations. But she still needed to consult a technology professional to review them, Humrickhouse said. And without the ability to review all Castleton records, her comments Thursday might be limited.

"We are unable to know how many of the questions we will be able to answer," said Humrickhouse of the law firm Nicholls & Crampton.

The creditors meeting is a standard part of bankruptcy proceedings. It is largely a fact-finding exercise focused on assets and liabilities. The bankruptcy trustee will ask questions and so will creditors.

At least one former Castleton client, though, doesn't expect the meeting to be very enlightening.

"Candidly, I'm not holding my breath much for this hearing," said Thad Armbruster, CFO at XS Inc., a Morrisville software company. "I think we're going to hear a lot of, 'I plead the fifth,' 'I don't know,' 'I don't understand,' and all that baloney."