Pigeon King comes to court
Monday, November 5, 2012
by BETTER FARMING STAFF
Justice J. Elliott Allen imposed a publication ban on the preliminary hearing against the man who called himself the Pigeon King today. But the defendant did plenty of talking outside of the courtroom.
The purpose of the hearing, in courtroom 103 of the Ontario Court of Justice in Kitchener, is to determine if the Crown’s case against Arlan Francis Galbraith, formerly of Waterloo but now of Cochrane, is substantial enough to warrant a full blown trial.
Galbraith, the former owner of Pigeon King International Inc., is fighting a charge of fraud over $5,000 and four offenses under the Bankruptcy Act. None of the charges, laid in December, 2010, have been proven in court. He has elected to represent himself and if it goes to trial, to be tried by judge and jury.
Prior to the company’s July 2008 bankruptcy, Galbraith and his company, Pigeon King International, did millions of dollars in business annually, selling high-priced pigeon pairs to about 1,000 growers in Canada and the United States and buying back their offspring on long-term contracts. Growers, many of whom were Amish or Mennonite farmers, contracted either personally with Galbraith or his company. Pigeon King International grew at a time when farmers, particularly smaller operators, were facing hard times across North America because of low commodity prices.
After the venture failed, the Waterloo Regional Police Service fraud squad and the RCMP launched a joint investigation into allegations the venture was a Ponzi scheme because investors formed the only market for the pigeons.
Galbraith has avoided public comment since he was charged in December 2010. But today, the former entrepreneur spoke at length with media. In an interview following the hearing, he described himself as a visionary and patriot of the family farm, explaining that the term meant he was someone who really supports the family farm.
He maintains that his business was “totally legitimate,” that there was “absolutely no criminal intent and no motive.” He says he had plans to develop plants to process the birds in Cochrane, in northern Ontario, Missouri, Western Canada and either Pennsylvania or New York State.
The birds that he had been selling were being used to breed a larger bird that could eventually be used for processing, Galbraith says. He claims there was a smear campaign launched by disgruntled employees as well as David Thornton, president of Crime Busters Now, a non-profit organization, and Better Farming magazine. He says the campaign destroyed the business and the livelihoods of all of the investors.
“All these fear mongers scared the crap out of everybody,” he says. “They ruined it.”
Galbraith says that he has developed a list of 1,000 questions he plans to ask in court if the case reaches trial. He calls himself a “model citizen” with his worst legal transgression having been a speeding ticket.
He says when he was charged he was “really surprised.” He notes that even though he had possession of a passport and had access to millions in the company’s bank account before it folded, he did not flee. “They haven’t found any off-shore accounts, no mansions, no nothing,” he says.
“The whole thing just doesn’t make any sense,” he says, and describes the police investigation as “half-baked.”
“If there is (a trial), I can definitely win,” he says.
The preliminary hearing continues this week and is scheduled for two more weeks in November as well as three weeks in January.
Other than media, only one person occupied the public bench on the opening day of the hearing.
The woman, who said she had produced birds for the defendant, declined to give her name. BF
UPDATE Nov. 7, 2012: The first round of Galbraith's preliminary hearing wrapped up on Tuesday earlier than expected. It is scheduled to resume November 19 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kitchener. BF