Birmingham City owner found guilty

Written By Unknown on Senin, 03 Maret 2014 | 15.36

3 March 2014 Last updated at 01:05 ET

Birmingham City Football Club owner Carson Yeung has been found guilty of five counts of money laundering by a court in Hong Kong.

The 54-year-old had denied laundering HK$720 million (£55.4m) through his bank accounts between 2001 and 2007.

Judge Douglas Yau said Yeung was "self-contradictory" in his testimony and he was "making it up as he went along".

He will be sentenced on Friday and could face 14 years in jail.

Continue reading the main story
  • October 2009 - Following an initial failed attempt in 2007, Carson Yeung completes his £81.5m takeover
  • May 2010 - Alex McLeish leads Birmingham to ninth in the Premier League
  • Feb 2011 - Birmingham beat Arsenal 2-1 to win the League Cup
  • May 2011 - Blues relegated. McLeish leaves for Aston Villa
  • June 2011 - Yeung first appears in court on money-laundering charges
  • May 2012 - Blues miss out in Championship play-offs on same day that acting chairman Peter Pannu announces they are looking to attract new investment
  • October 2012 - Pannu reveals two prospective buyers, including a consortium led by Midlands-based former QPR chairman Gianni Paladin
  • May 2013 - After an initial postponement, Yeung's trial opens in Hong Kong
  • Feb 2014 - Yeung resigns from all roles on the boards related to the club days before verdict in his trial is due
  • March 2014 - Yeung found guilty of five money laundering charges

Yeung was arrested and charged in June 2011, two years after he acquired the club.

Throughout the trial, Yeung and the prosecution painted differing pictures of how his wealth had been amassed.

Yeung maintained he accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars through stock trading, business ventures in mainland China, a hair salon and a keen interest in gambling.

'Famous hairstylist'

But prosecutors said he was unable to show where almost HK$100 million (£7.7m) in his bank accounts had come from.

Judge Yau said Yeung had lied about how he made his money and exaggerated the amount of profits generated by his hair salon business.

"I find the defendant not a witness of truth. I find that he is someone who is prepared to, and did try to, lie whenever he saw the need to do so," he told the court room.

He added there were reasonable grounds to believe that Yeung's various business deals had used money which represented "proceeds of an indictable offence".

Yeung bought Birmingham City in October 2009 for £81.5m from David Sullivan and David Gold, now the co-owners of West Ham.

He is the majority shareholder but resigned in February as president of Birmingham City FC, director of Birmingham City plc and director and chairman of the club's parent company, Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL).

The side are currently 17th in the Championship after losing 1-0 to Ipswich on Saturday.

Yeung worked in the UK as a teenager before becoming a "famous" hairstylist in Hong Kong. He made his fortune investing in Macau in the 1990s and is a well-known property developer in Hong Kong.

Analysts say the authorities there are trying to clamp down on money laundering, which is seen as a growing problem in the financial centre.


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