By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – Carson Yeung, the Hong Kong businessman who owns English club Birmingham City, has lost a second appeal to have his money laundering trial thrown out. A district court judge said Yeung wasn’t prejudiced by new evidence submitted by the prosecution during the trial which has been going for almost two months.
Yeung has pleaded not guilty to five charges of laundering HK$721.3 million ($93 million) of deposits from parties including a Macau casino operator and securities firms over a seven-year period up to 2007.
Last week, the prosecution disclosed new documents during Yeung’s cross examination linking him to Abba Chan Tat-chee, a concert promoter convicted of embezzlement. The information came to light as part of a separate investigation, prosecutors said.
Yeung’s defence team immediately applied for a permanent stay in proceedings, arguing he could no longer get a fair hearing. The trial was briefly adjourned before the request was turned down.
Yeung was chairman of Grandtop International Holdings Ltd., which in 2007 bought a 29.9% stake in Birmingham for £15 million. He bought the rest of the club in 2009, paying £81.5 million to David and Ralph Gold and David Sullivan, and Grandtop changed its name to Birmingham International Holdings Ltd. Before his takeover, Yeung was a little-known businessman whose only previous experience with professional football consisted of a stint as chairman of Hong Kong Rangers Football Club from 2005-06.
Police allege his purchase of Birmingham was partly funded by money connected to his laundering charges. His lawyers counter that he legitimately earned that money from trading stocks.
Meanwhile, Yeung is reported to have struck a deal to waive cash owed in return for an increased stake from 26.31% to 27.63% in parent group Birmingham International Holdings.
Birmingham fan groups reacted to the announcement with raised hopes that the move could finally sever Yeung’s direct links with the Championship club and clear the path for a sale.
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