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Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung jailed for six years by Hong Kong court for laundering £55MILLION through five bank accounts
- Carson Yeung denied laundering the money between 2001 and 2007
- Judge said he found the tycoon, 54, 'was not a witness of truth'
- Yeung was accused of exaggerating profit made by his hair salon business
- He bought Birmingham City football club in October 2009 for £81.5million
PUBLISHED: 07:21 GMT, 7 March 2014 | UPDATED: 11:48 GMT, 7 March 2014
Birmingham City Football Club owner Carson Yeung was jailed for six years today for laundering £55.4million following a high-profile trial that cast a spotlight on how the barber-turned-businessman made his fortune.
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.
Jailed: Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung has been sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of money laundering by a Hong Kong court
Photographers scramble to take pictures of Yeung inside a bus outside a district court in Hong Kong Friday
Guilty: Yeung wearing a mask as he leaves court in the back of a police van after an earlier hearing
Denial: Carson Yeung denied he was guilty of money laundering but was convicted by a Hong Kong court
After his trial earlier this month, judge Douglas Yau said he was 'self-contradictory' in his evidence and was 'making it up as he went along'.
'I find the defendant not a witness of truth,' Judge Yau told a packed court room. 'I find that he is someone who is prepared to, and did try to, lie whenever he saw the need to do so.'
The judge said he exaggerated the amount of profit made by his hair salon business.
The trial also revealed Yeung's close links to Macau's casino world, both as an investor and gambler, and how that enabled business investments that helped him amass his wealth.
He maintained that he built a fortune of hundreds of million of dollars through stock trading and business ventures in China.
Millionaire: Yeung, who bought Birmingham in October 2009, resigned as the club's president and director last month - he is still their majority shareholder
Tycoon: Yeung surrounded by the media at an earlier hearing in his money laundering trial back in June 2011
But prosecutors said he was unable to show where £7.7million in his bank account had come from.
The Judge's verdict said there was reasonable doubt to believe that various business deals represented 'proceeds of an indictable offence.'
Yeung bought Birmingham in October 2009 for £81.5million from David Sullivan and David Gold, now the co-owners of West Ham.
He is still the majority shareholder but resigned last month as the club's president, director and director and chairman of the club's parent company, Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL) to await the verdict.
Splashing the cash: Yeung poses with the Birmingham shirt after purchasing the club in 2009
All smiles: A beaming Yeung after being unveiled as the new president of Birmingham City
Short-term success: Yeung lifts the League Cup with manager Alex McLeish after beating Arsenal at Wembley in February 2011
In a statement released at the time to the Hong Kong stock exchange, BIHL said: 'Mr Yeung, with his foresight, aspiration and clairvoyance, has steered the board successfully through landmark projects such as the acquisition of Birmingham City Football club, for which the board is profoundly indebted.
'Mr Yeung unequivocally confirms that he has no disagreement with the board and that there are no other matters relating to his resignation that are required to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the company.'
Yeung's father and co-accused, Yeung Chung, died in 2012.
