Guilty: jury convicts Pigeon King of fraud
Thursday, December 5, 2013
by DAVE PINK and BETTER FARMING STAFF
Arlan Galbraith is in jail after being convicted Thursday – following a month-long trial -- of defrauding the investors in his Pigeon King International business of millions of dollars.
Galbraith – who had chosen not to hire a lawyer and acted in his own defence – stood motionless and silent in the Kitchener Superior Court room as the jury of six men and six women confirmed their support for the guilty verdict.
Kitchener Superior Court Justice G. E. Taylor immediately revoked Galbraith’s bail. Then, noting that Galbraith had repeatedly rejected the advice of other judges that he hire a lawyer, Taylor said: “I again urge you, in the strongest terms, to reconsider taking counsel.”
Neatly dressed in a dark suit, Galbraith was led away by uniformed police officers to the cells in the basement of the courthouse.
He will be back in court on Thursday, Dec. 12, when Taylor said he will reconsider bail for the 66-year-old Galbraith.
Sentencing will probably be scheduled for sometime in January.
Galbraith had been in the business of selling breeding pairs of pigeons to people across North America, most of them farmers, promising to buy back the offspring at a set price. The birds, he said, were to be sold as racing and show birds to hobbyists and enthusiasts throughout the world. Instead, the birds were sold to new investors in Canada and the United States.
Later, he would insist to investors that he was developing breeding stock for pigeons, or squabs, intended for human consumption.
In June 2008, the Waterloo-based business collapsed under the weight of its financial commitments, leaving many of its investors deeply in debt.
If Galbraith ever did sell birds to any of those pigeon hobbyists, as he had promised, court was never told about it.
At least two former Pigeon King employees testified that they believed the business was unsustainable and accused Galbraith of running a Ponzi scheme. Meanwhile, Galbraith continued to sell pigeons to investors, telling them the marketing prospect for pigeons was bright and that they could expect strong returns on their investments.
He stands convicted of one Criminal Code charge that he defrauded members of the public of more than $1 million. As well, he was convicted of two charges under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act – first, that he obtained money by false representation, and, second, that he failed to attend a meeting of his creditors following his bankruptcy.
"It was a pyramid scheme from the start,” says Mark Reusser, vice-president of the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture and a board member of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
Reusser says the Waterloo federation has been concerned about the "so-called business since we found out about it."
"He was taking advantage of people from the beginning and jeopardizing their farms and their ability to make a living . . . it didn't make sense. The man had no market. A business needs a market." The expensively priced birds were "really just an ordinary pigeon."
"It's a shame it happened in the agricultural community; it doesn't reflect well on us," Reusser added, noting he thinks it is “appropriate” Galbraith was convicted.
Look for Better Farming magazine’s February issue for reaction from the farm community. BF