HONG KONG: Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung will go on trial in Hong Kong on Wednesday on charges of money laundering after the troubled tycoon failed in a bid to have the case postponed.
The former hairdresser was arrested and charged in June last year with five counts of "dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence".
The exact nature of the allegations are unknown, but are expected to become clearer when the 15-day trial begins at 09:30am (0130 GMT) at a district court in the southern Chinese city.
Prosecutors have said investigations revealed around HK$720 million ($92 million) passed through accounts connected to the 52-year-old businessman, who had been on bail pending the trial since he was charged.
Yeung has yet to enter a plea but his lawyers have previously said that he intends to fight the charges.
A district court last week rejected his bid to delay the hearing by six months on grounds that most of his assets have been frozen, which prevented him from hiring a legal team.
The case also stopped him from travelling to Britain last year to attend his duties at the debt-ridden English football club.
The district court granted him permission, only for the High Court to overturn the ruling and allow an appeal from prosecutors, who argued there was a risk he might not return to Hong Kong.
Yeung, who was little known prior to his emergence in English football, took control of the club in October 2009 in an £81 million ($130 million) takeover from David Sullivan and David Gold, now the co-owners of West Ham.
The club's fortunes however have gone downhill. They were relegated from the Premiership three months after winning the League Cup amid financial troubles.
Yeung has assured Birmingham City he will continue to support the club financially despite his legal troubles.
-AFP/ac
Football: Blues owner Yeung to go on trial
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Football: Blues owner Yeung to go on trial
