Cheques issued when Yeung not in Macau, says witness

Birmingham City Football Club boss Carson Yeung Ka-sing was not in Macau gambling when he asked a casino operator to deposit cash cheques into his bank accounts, a prosecution accounting expert said yesterday.

Roderick Sutton, of FTI Consulting, told the District Court that Yeung was not in Macau when he made most of his requests to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau for cash cheques in 2004 and 2005.

Sutton, who has reviewed Yeung's travel records, was asked by prosecutor John Reading SC to respond to defence reports that listed the dates of the cheques from SJM and the corresponding cheque request forms. The court heard earlier that SJM, one of six companies authorised to operate casinos in Macau, issued a series of cash cheques for a total of HK$72.45 million which were deposited in Yeung's accounts from late 2004 to early 2005.

Sutton had said earlier that the funds might be related to gambling activities in casinos but no supporting documents had been found.

"Cash transactions with parties associated with money laundering activities - such as casinos, security brokerage firms, insurance companies and jewellery shops - should prompt further investigation as to the source of funds," he earlier told the court.

The court also heard that a cashier's order for HK$35 million was made payable to SJM from Yeung's bank account in January 2005. Two days later, it was redeemed.

Defence expert Ian Robinson provided a number of documents to prove Yeung's connection with various casinos in Macau. The documents include copies of five cheques for a total sum of HK$1.96 million drawn from Wynn International Marketing to Yeung in 2008. Sutton said some documents were dated after the period covered by the charges against Yeung.