A forensic accountant told a jury why Arlan Galbraith’s
Pigeon King International business was bound to collapse.
Galbraith has been saying that he planned to build a
pigeon-processing plant at Cochrane that would be ready to take pigeons by
2011.
But between 2008, when Galbraith declared bankruptcy, and
2011, the company would have needed to generate $167 million to pay investors
with contracts.
And to generate $167 million, he would have needed to sign
contracts promising $1.5 billion, accountant Jeff Good told the jury that will
have to decide whether Galbraith is guilty of fraud.
Good testified that the contracts Pigeon King had on the
books when Galbraith declared bankruptcy required $357 million in revenues. In
the month he declared bankruptcy, he needed $2.7 million to pay investors.
Pigeon King signed 900 contracts with investors in the three
years before bankruptcy. It took in $42 million from investors and paid out
about $30 million, based on an estimate that breeding pairs raise 10 offspring
per year.
