Arlan Galbraith

And Thornton is like a one-man vigilante.

He runs a website where he tries to take down scammers operating things like pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes and such.

So Thornton is very interested in hearing about this super pigeon scam that Arlen is doing.

And when he starts investigating and looking into it, he immediately sees that it's shady as hell.

And so now Thornton is determined to stop it.

And so he gets to work and he starts posting online all about Pigeon King International because he's trying to warn others about investing.

Then he starts hitting up banks and feed companies in agricultural areas in North America and telling them all about this scam and telling them to not get involved.

So it seems like he's trying to make as much noise as possible so that he can stop people from investing.

And so suddenly there's a whole lot of focus on Arlen and his pigeon business.

And then this local Ontario magazine called Better Farming decides to do a piece on Arlen's business.

And they like speak with pigeon experts and squab processors and the whole thing.

And they conclude the same thing that Thornton does.

That it's just highly unlikely that there's this huge market for pigeons that Arlen is over here preaching about.

And so the magazine publishes a 16-page expose on Pigeon King International.

And pretty quickly, this article freaks investors out.

And they stop buying the birds.

And so Arlen goes from not having enough pigeons to keep up with demand to having holding barns full of these birds because no one is willing to buy.

And with no more investors coming in, he can no longer buy all those pigeon offspring he was supposed to buy.

And so his Ponzi scheme officially falls apart.

And in 2008, poor Arlen is forced to close up Pigeon King International and file for bankruptcy.