Birmingham owner Carson Yeung orders cash probe after discovering £6million of unpaid bills

Carson Yeung has ordered his anti-fraud expert to investigate Birmingham’s finances after inheriting bills amassing a staggering £6million.

City’s new regime have already put outgoing MD Karren Brady’s controversial £1m leaving package on ice and halted her perks.

And Yeung, who paid £80m for the club earlier this month, has been annoyed further after being hit with a raft of invoices for transfers and agents’ fees pre-dating his takeover.

He paid over the odds at £1 a share for David Sullivan and the Gold brothers’ stake in Premier League City without getting full disclosure of the club’s books.

And Far Eastern tycoon Yeung has now told Brum’s new vice-president Peter Pannu, an ex-Hong Kong cop and barrister, to oversee a post-acquisition due diligence at St Andrews.

Pannu, 46, is together with City’s lawyers going through Birmingham’s finances from July 2007 onwards when Yeung bought his original 29.9 per cent stake for £15m to become the club’s largest single shareholder.

Pannu tackled the fearsome triads when he was a detective with the Royal Hong Kong Police and also investigated serious crime whilst attached to the organised crime bureau.

He then resigned in 1997 to practise law and has LL.B/LL.M degrees in corporate and commercial law.

Under instructions from Pannu’s legal team, City have already stopped Brady’s leaving perks with immediate effect by ending her club phone contract, health insurance, executive box use and free tickets.

Brady’s swipe card also no longer works to stop her getting into St Andrews.

And the club have requested her company car, a black Porsche Cayenne, is returned by November 1.

Sullivan, Ralph Gold and MD Brady quit earlier this month upon Yeung’s takeover and David Gold has had his directorship terminated.

But Yeung has been saddled with lots of bills including Brady’s costly severance terms which were written into her contract using Sullivan and the Gold brothers’ joint-majority shareholding.

She is due 12 months’ salary worth £179,372, a bonus of £520,000 for Sullivan and the Gold brothers selling their shares and another bonus of £260,000 for City being in the Premier League.

Brady, 40, also expects use of a company car, mobile phone, health insurance and the best executive box at St Andrews for 12 months after leaving.

But Birmingham's new legal team have written to Brady’s lawyers insisting her leaving package should not have been allowed after Yeung bought his original stake in the club.

Yeung is also livid that her £260,000 bonus for City being in the Premier League has been paid up front already instead of in two instalments of £130,000.

And Brady is also theoretically entitled to another £260,000 bonus if Birmingham are in the top-flight next season.

Her terms have caused uproar since Mirror Sport’s revelation on October 3 after seeing the club’s takeover recommendation document sent to BCFC shareholders.

When approached, vice-president Pannu indicated the matter is in the hands of the club’s lawyers and he could not elaborate.