Pigeon King's bankruptcy hearing stalled again

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

© AgMedia Inc.

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Ontario’s pigeon king won’t face personal bankruptcy proceedings until the fall.

A scheduling issue has delayed the hearing, says Steven Gadbois, lawyer for Arlan Galbraith, the founder of Pigeon King International Inc, which folded last June. The Waterloo-based company sold pigeon breeding pairs for as much as $500 and bought back offspring for up to $50 each. Its collapse left nearly 1,000 breeders in Canada and the United States with thousands of worthless pigeons.

“You are kidding,” was the response of former PKI breeder Joline Humbert, Republic, Ohio, after learning today that the hearing had once again been delayed. It had initially been scheduled to take place in March, then rescheduled to take place in May.

“We’re not getting any information out of Canada, period,” Humbert says of the efforts of a group of former U.S. PKI investors’ efforts to obtain information about the progress of the investigation into PKI and Galbraith’s bankruptcy.

Paisley-area farmer Dale Leifso, another former PKI investor, says he’s upset about the delay.

“How long is it going to drag on?” he asks.

In November, James Wiersma of Fisherville, Ontario, one of four creditor-appointed inspectors in the PKI company bankruptcy, filed an application to declare Galbraith personally bankrupt with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Bankruptcy and Insolvency.

Galbraith is fighting the application and asking the court to repeal the Nov. 12, 2008 appointment of BDO Dunwoody as interim receiver. BDO is also PKI’s bankruptcy trustee.

Gadbois says BDO and its lawyer, Frank Highley, have requested the delay and describes the scheduling issue as “entirely reasonable.” No court date has yet been confirmed.

BDO remains Galbraith’s interim receiver in the meantime, he says.

BDO spokesperson Susan Taves, Highley and Wiersma could not be reached for comment. A representative from Highley’s office confirmed the delay in an email but offered no other details.

Police are continuing to investigate, says Waterloo Regional Police Service’s Staff Sgt Wally Hogg. The Waterloo police fraud squad began a preliminary investigation into the company last summer and formalized the investigation in January. It is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. BF