Carson Yeung, the tycoon who owns English Premier League football club Birmingham City, arrives at eastern court in Hong Kong on June 30, 2011. Yeung was due to appear in a Hong Kong court on June 30 charged with money-laundering offences a day after he was arrested by narcotics police, witnesses and police said.STR
Hairdresser turned tycoon and English soccer club owner Carson Yeung was charged with money laundering on Thursday by a Hong Kong court.
Yeung, owner of Birmingham City and chairman of Hong Kong-listed Birmingham International , was charged with "dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence" totalling $95-million, the Hong Kong magistrate court said.
Shares of Birmingham International, the soccer club's parent company which has a market capitalization of about $68.5-million, were suspended on Tuesday. No reason was given and Birmingham International declined comment.
Yeung was whisked into a police car earlier in the day and appeared in court on Thursday wearing a blazer sporting Birmingham City's logo.
He was questioned by Hong Kong police on Wednesday in relation to "criminal investigations", the English Championship (second division) club said in a statement.
The 51-year-old took over Birmingham City in October 2009, soon after they were promoted back to the Premier League after a season in the Championship.
Last term they won the League Cup, their first major trophy since 1963, to qualify for next season's Europa League competition, but ended the campaign by being relegated to the Championship after a late season loss of form.