It will be November before a preliminary hearing, which
could take six weeks, will begin on one count of fraud and three of breaches of
the Bankruptcy Act against Arlan Galbraith, the self-styled Pigeon King, gets
underway in Kitchener.
Justice Gary Hearn set out 15 days in November – Nov. 5 to
9, Nov. 19 to 23 and Nov. 26 to 30, to begin the preliminary hearing.
Assistant
Crown Attorney Melissa Ernewein told Hearn she estimates it will take six
weeks.
Hearn once again pleaded with Galbraith to hire a lawyer,
but Galbraith just as stubbornly said he intends to defend himself.
“It is not in your best interest to be representing
yourself,” Hearn told Galbraith.
Galbraith ran a pigeon-breeding business from Waterloo,
eventually marketing to investors across Canada and the United States.
He put his Pigeon King International Inc. into receivership
in June, 2008 and the next year some investors who had signed contracts with
Galbraith before he formed Pigeon King International petitioned him into
personal bankruptcy.
Waterloo Region police, with help from the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police and people in the United States, conducted hundreds of
interviews with investors and staff before laying a fraud charge against
Galbraith in December, 2010.
