Blues owner Carson Yeung charged

Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung is facing criminal charges relating to tax.

Yeung was arrested by the narcotic bureau's financial investigations unit at his home in Hong Kong and charged with five counts of money laundering involving £59million.

The 51-year-old appeared in court in Hong Kong today to face five counts of "dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence" after spending last night in custody.

The charges relate to offences alleged to have occurred between 2001 and 2007, according to prosecutors.

Reports say Yeung was released on bail of £558,000 until the next hearing, which is scheduled for August 11.

In a statement, Hong Kong police said: "Narcotics Bureau officers also searched two locations, one on Hong Kong Island and one in Kowloon, and seized some documents."

Yeung did not enter a plea and little about the details of the charges is known.

A report quotes Yeung's lawyer, Daniel Marash, suggesting it seemed to be a tax issue.

He said: "All they're saying is he's got a lot of money, and he hasn't paid a lot of tax.

"There's lots of money in my bank account – not as much as his – but I don't pay taxes because it's not taxable."

Marash added trade in shares of the club's parent company, suspended today, may start again now he has been bailed.

Earlier, a statement issued by Birmingham's acting chairman, Peter Pannu, believes the police inquiries in Hong Kong were nothing to do with the club's parent company Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL) in Hong Kong or subsidiaries and therefore nothing to do with the club.

Pannu said: "People are reminded that in recent years members of the previous board were placed on bail for a significant amount of time and nothing came of it.

"I am only using this as an example to calm any fears. The law says a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

"Until I find out more information about this matter, there is no further comment to be made."

Yeung bought a 29.9 per cent stake in Blues four years ago and took full control of the Carling Cup winners midway through the 2009-2010 season, in an £81million takeover from David Sullivan and David Gold.

In March, Yeung applied for a £12million loan to prevent "significant curtailment" of BIHL's operations, using his own personal property as collateral.