By David Gold
June 29 – Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung is “assisting police” with a criminal investigation in his native Hong Kong, the club have confirmed.
Reuters reported that the case is in relation to alleged money laundering.
According to the Hong Kong Association of New Media, “police arrested a 51-year-old man suspected of money laundering.”
The report says that police raided two locations, seizing a number of documents.
In a statement, Birmingham’s acting chairman Peter Pannu said: “Carson is assisting with enquiries that have nothing to do with the operation of Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL) in Hong Kong and therefore nothing to do with the operation of the club, and relate to other matters”.
It is the latest turbulent incident to affect the Championship club, who were relegated from the Premier League last month, before seeing manager Alex McLeish leave for their local rivals Aston Villa.
The club also has lingering doubts over its financial stability, with a number of high profile first team players released from their contracts at the end of last season to reduce the wage bill.
In January, the club’s accounts carried a warning that Birmingham was a “going concern” with debts in excess of £30 million and rising.
Those accounts also showed two scenarios, one in which the club required around £7.5 million from its holding company to remain solvent, and the second in which they would need a further £3 million on top of that.
Both scenarios envisaged Birmingham remaining in the Premier League though, and so the financial future of the club is a serious concern going forward, though Yeung has raised approximately £7 million since.
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