Conspirators can lurk in the most unlikely of places, even where you assume a vetting process would have eliminated any possibility of fraudulent schemes. Such was the case when Carson Yeung, 54, a hairdresser in Hong Kong, purchased a partial interest in the Birmingham City soccer club. Despite a strict background check prior to buying the team, Mr. Yeung was able to complete the transaction. Subsequently, a fraud investigation in Hong Kong revealed a money laundering plot that netted him an estimated $93 million.
The Scheme to Defraud
After the investigation produced enough evidence to arrest Mr. Yeung, the case proceeded to trial with several significant findings:
- During the time period of 2001 through 2007, large amounts of cash were deposited into bank accounts maintained by Mr. Yeung and his father, deceased in 2012.
- Despite these significant deposits, neither man reported earnings for four to five years during the relevant time period.
- The deposits came from a variety of sources, including securities firms and several unknown parties.
- One source of fraudulent deposits tied Mr. Yeung to Macau gaming establishment boss Cheung Chi-tai, who has long been suspected of involvement with organized crime by Hong Kong officials.
- In sum, the fraud investigation in Hong Kong established that $93 million was deposited and paid out through Mr. Yeung’s five accounts, with the source identified as “unknown parties without any apparent reason.”
- The $93 million was the equivalent to over 300 times the combined salary of the defendant and his father, though Mr. Yeung contended that he earned his millions through the stock market and upscale hair salons, as well as investing in Chinese business ventures and Macau casinos.
On March 7, 2014, Hong Kong District Court Judge Douglas Yau sentenced Mr. Yeung to six years in prison for conspiracy to launder an estimated $93 million. The next step will be a motion by the prosecution to confiscate $52 million of Mr. Yeung’s assets to cover the $93 million as restitution in the case. These assets had been frozen by court order at the start of the fraud investigation in Hong Kong, and the order was in place pending the trial’s outcome.
Previous Convictions
Over the past decade, Mr. Yeung had been convicted of crimes involving deceit, yet the Premier League still approved his purchase of the Birmingham City soccer club in 2009. In 2004, Mr. Yeung accepted a guilty plea in a Hong Kong court for failing to report shares in a publicly traded company. The rules of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission require individuals to disclose holdings of 10% or more in a company, and failure to report is a crime. He was fined and ordered to pay costs incurred by the SFC.
Mr. Yeung again breached the SFC rule in 2010, after his purchase of Birmingham City, when he failed to report his ownership in excess of 10% in another publicly traded company. Both he and his finance company, Great Luck Management, were fined for the violation.
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Veriti Consulting LLC provides professional nationwide fraud investigation services across the U.S. Veriti is also a licensed private investigation firm. Learn more about our fraud investigation services by calling 855.232.4410 or contact us via email.
