Birmingham City Owner Yeung Jailed for Six Years

Carson Yeung, owner and former chairman of Birmingham City, has been sentenced to six years in jail for laundering $93m.

Yeung, 54, was found guilty by a Hong Kong court on Monday of five counts of money laundering. He had denied the charges.

The businessman had told the court he amassed his wealth through hairdressing, share-trading, property purchases, gambling in the world’s casino hub of Macau and other investments. The former hair stylist to Hong Kong’s rich and famous laundered the money between January 2001 and December 2007 through five bank accounts, the court found.

Yeung bought into Birmingham City in 2007 and acquired the rest in 2009.

But he resigned from the parent company – Hong Kong-listed Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL) – while he awaited the verdict.

It is not yet clear what his conviction and imprisonment means for Birmingham City, though for now the day-to-day running of the club will continue unchanged.

But the case raises difficult questions about how Yeung managed to pass the Premier League’s fit and proper persons test whilst buying the club.

It is the first time that someone still involved in a football club would fail the owners and directors test.

Sentencing Yeung at Hong Kong District Court, Judge Yau said: “The sentence must include an element of deterrence to discourage those who are in a position to exploit the system.

“The law will come down on them with full force.

“Maintaining the integrity of the banking system is of paramount importance if Hong Kong is to remain an international finance centre,” he said.

Gloria Yu, a police investigator, told reporters outside the courthouse: “We overcame a lot of hurdles to get this result.

“We are happy… and encouraged because fighting money laundering is a very arduous task.”