What did it take for Arlan Galbraith, the self-styled Pigeon King, to build an empire worth millions?
About 1,000 contractors and unsecured creditors who are owed $23 million might be interested to know.
According to a statement of affairs posted on-line by bankruptcy trustee BDO Dunwoody, besides a staff of 16, Galbraith ran his pigeon breeding operation with little more than a GMC van, a Dodge pickup truck and miscellaneous items such as furniture and office supplies. Altogether, the assets on hand owned by Pigeon King International amount to around $46,000.
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“Is it unusual that the asset value is so low and the liability value so high? There is quite a large spread between the two, so yes,” said Susan Taves, a bankruptcy trustee at BDO Dunwoody’s Kitchener, Ont., office, which is handling the PKI file.
“We are checking into a lot of bank balances, as well, but we don’t expect it to be a lot. There’s nothing here for us to sell.”
Taves said Arlan Galbraith filed bankruptcy papers dated July 2, and that a meeting of creditors is scheduled for Kitchener, Ont., July 30. Galbraith, the architect of the controversial pigeon-breeding scheme, would be on hand at the meeting, she added.
A partial list of contractors in the United States and Canada has been posted at www.bdo.ca, some of whom are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The site will be updated as information comes to light, said Taves.
As many as 500 of the 1,000 contractors would likely have claims against Galbraith himself, since Pigeon King International Inc. was formally incorporated in 2007. Galbraith has not declared personal bankruptcy, she said.
A bankruptcy trustee’s role is to gather assets, convert them to cash and pay the money to the creditors, she said. With so few assets declared by Galbraith, the likelihood of creditors recovering even a small portion of the money owed to them is poor, added Taves.
“Where did all the money go? We will review the records of the company for the last six to 12 months to identify major disbursements of cash,” she said.
“In the event it looks like there were preferences or cash paid to people who shouldn’t have been paid, we will report that to the creditors at the meeting on July 30.”
Beyond that, if those owed money by PKI feel that further investigation is warranted, Taves said they should contact the Waterloo Regional Police Service’s fraud squad.
The trustee has no plans to claim the birds, which are owned by the farmer-investors. She recommended farmers dispose of the pigeons humanely with the assistance of local humane societies.
Apart from a quote on a possible slaughter facility for the pigeons, Galbraith did not produce any proof of assets related to his stated plans.
“There was no plant, no land, no hole in the ground anywhere.”
Taves said BDO Dunwoody would file an analysis of Pigeon King’s operations and post it on the website after the July 30 meeting.
Waterloo Regional Police Service staff sergeant Wally Hogg said the police have received 12 complaints since PKI folded in mid-June.
These will be considered when deciding whether to launch a criminal investigation, which will be decided in coming weeks, he said.
