The first full day of testimony at the Pigeon King fraud trial saw testimony from a former salesman for the company.
Bill Topp spent several years at Pigeon King International before resigning in 2006.
He testified Wednesday that he left the company believing it was a Ponzi scheme, with owner Arlan Galbraith having no actual buyers for the pigeons he encouraged farmers to invest in.
“Mr. Arlan, you were running a corrupt business,” he said in court.
“I did the right thing by stepping down.”
Galbraith, who is representing himself in the trial, finished his cross-examination of Topp by asking him if he was “recruited by the Amish Mafia to destroy PKI.”
Topp called that suggestion “ridiculous” and said he enjoyed working with Galbraith until he stopped believing in the Pigeon King business model.
Also taking the stand was Mark Wolfe, a Pigeon King employee who worked in the U.S.
“I could see there was a lot of negative talk among the Amish community,” he said.
“There was endless talk about ‘Where are these birds going?’”
Wolfe testified that after doing more research about Pigeon King, he too left the company and warned a friend who had bought PKI birds about his suspicions.
Galbraith is charged with one charge of criminal fraud and four Bankruptcy Act offences.
He has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
