Arlan Galbraith has been sentenced to seven years in prison
for fraud connected with the bankruptcy of his Pigeon King International Inc.
business in Waterloo.
Justice G.E. Taylor said “Galbraith refuses to admit he did
anything wrong” or to apologize to hundreds of investors who lost an estimated
$20 million.
Galbraith sold breeding pairs of pigeons to investors,
promising to buy back offspring at highly-profitable prices. Hundreds bought
pigeons from him, including many Old Order Mennonites and Amish in the Waterloo
Region, then across Ontario and into Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa.
A Hutterite community in Western Canada invested about $1
million.
Iowa stepped in and stopped the company, describing it as a
pyramid scheme. Then investigations began in Ontario and other states and
Galbraith declared bankruptcy.
