For the first time, Arlan Galbraith told his side of the story to CTV News, saying the allegations against him are false.
“The crown and the police are maintaining the business wasn’t sustainable and that’s absolutely not true. The bankruptcy was not caused by a lack of customers. It was caused by a smear campaign”, says Galbraith.
Otherwise known as the Pigeon King, Galbraith is accused of defrauding roughly 1,000 Manitoba farmers out of an estimated $20 million dollars in a pigeon-raising business back in 2010.
Galbraith, who now lives in Cochrane, Ontario, appeared in a Kitchener court Friday morning in another preliminary hearing. He’s facing fraud and Bankruptcy Act charges after his business, Pigeon King International, went bankrupt after raising funds. Galbraith has also declared personal bankruptcy as well.
Galbraith says the goal of the business was to breed stock and then sell the pigeon meat. When allegations against him began to surface, he says his business suffered. “What this did was put everybody in a mode of ‘let’s wait and see’ and when people get in a wait and see mode how can you do any business?”
The fraud case has been adjourned until December 20th when it’s expected a trial date will be set. In February, Galbraith told a judge that he will be representing himself in the case.
“I’m just hoping I get an open minded jury that thinks outside the box, looks at the bigger picture, has respect for an entrepreneur, has respect for democracy and has respect for a visionary”, he adds.
