Birmingham quizzed by Football League over Carson Yeung’s influence
|
Version 0 of 1. The Football League has written to Birmingham City asking whether Carson Yeung is effectively acting as a director despite being banned from any such level of influence because of his criminal conviction for money laundering. According to the board of the club’s parent company, Birmingham International Holdings, Yeung, who is serving a six-year prison sentence in Hong Kong, is nevertheless attempting to force three BIHL directors to be removed and three of his own associates to be appointed, apparently including his partner and his driver. If the League does find Yeung is wielding director-level influence it will consider disciplinary action designed to force a change and prevent him continuing to do so. This can involve a range of sanctions including fines, points deductions or a transfer embargo. The ultimate sanction if a club remain influenced or controlled by a banned person, particularly one with Yeung’s seriousness of criminal conviction, is to be expelled from the League. A spokesman said: “The Football League has written to Birmingham City today to ask for clarification as to whether this statement demonstrates that Carson Yeung should be defined as a ‘relevant person’ under the Owners and Directors test [meaning that he owns more than 30% of a club or has influence over the running of it] while being subject to a disqualifying condition.” The League’s rules bar anybody who has a criminal conviction for an offence involving dishonesty from being a director, or 30% owner, of a club. Yeung owns 27.9% of BIHL which is registered in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. According to BIHL’s board he is acting in alliance with a British Virgin Islands company, U-Continent Holdings, which owns 15.5%. The BIHL board has formally told the stock exchange that it is resisting making the changes demanded and has written to Yeung and U-Continent asking whether these proposed directors “have the character, expertise and integrity and … competence commensurate with their positions as directors”. The board said it has had no reply to these letters. The League is concerned that this public statement showing Yeung seeking to wield power with a combined 43.4% of BIHL shares may represent solid evidence that he is effectively acting with director-level influence. Yeung, a former hairdresser, led the £81.5m takeover of Birmingham in 2009, promising to invest multi-millions and bring success, but was arrested in 2011 following the club’s relegation from the Premier League and last year sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of laundering £55m proceeds of crime. The well-informed website Often Partisan, written by fan and author Daniel Ivery, reported of the three directors Yeung is seeking to appoint that Joanna Wang Manli is Yeung’s common-law partner, Li Wen Jun is a junior BIHL employee and Yeung’s long-time associate, and Gurung Arjun Kumar is Yeung’s bodyguard and driver. A Birmingham City spokesman said they too were seeking details from BIHL. He pointed out that Yeung’s effort to appoint directors was brought to light by the BIHL board, which is clearly resisting. |