Birmingham owner fails to have case thrown out

HONG KONG (AFP) –

Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung arrives at court in Hong Kong on May 3, 2013. Yeung failed in his bid to have his money-laundering case thrown out as the judge rejected his arguments that he would not receive a fair trial.

Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung failed in his bid to have his money-laundering case thrown out of a Hong Kong court as the judge rejected his arguments that he would not receive a fair trial.

The former hairdresser-turned-football-tycoon on Monday pleaded not guilty to five counts of knowingly dealing in ill-gotten gains worth tens of millions of dollars at the start of his long-delayed trial.

Prosecutors say around HK$720 million ($93 million) passed through accounts connected to the 53-year-old in a seven-year period but the defence argued earlier this week that a lack of documentation would result in an unfair trial.

But Judge Douglas Yau said the defendent had failed to prove that missing documents would result in an unfair trial.

“One would expect that cash transactions involving tens of millions of dollars should be relatively hard to forget,” he said.

“Especially when the defendant seems to be suggesting that there has been copious amount of trading resulting,” he added.

The alleged offences committed by Yeung, who has been on bail since he was charged in June 2011, are said to have occurred between 2001 and 2007.

Yeung’s counsel had argued that a “significant portion” of his wealth came from stock trading before 2001 and as official papers that trace stockbroking activities are normally kept for only seven years in Hong Kong he would not receive a fair trial.

Yeung, who looked calm as the ruling was delivered, has made several unsuccessful attempts to postpone or strike out the charges.

A court previously rejected his application to move the trial to the High Court after the prosecution criticised the bid as a delaying tactic.

Yeung, who was little known prior to his emergence in English football, took control of Birmingham City in October 2009 but the club was relegated from the Premier League in 2011, three months after winning the League Cup.

Yeung has assured Birmingham City he will continue to support the club financially despite his legal troubles.

The trial has been adjourned until next Tuesday.