Law Partner Picks Up Hong Kong Home of Former Birmingham City Boss for $37M

A protracted legal struggle has worked to the benefit of a veteran Hong Kong lawyer , but not in the usual way, as a Paul Hasting attorney recently picked up a villa on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak confiscated from notorious tycoon Carson Yeung Ka-shing for HK$288 million ($37 million).

Raymond Li Shu-feng, founding partner and chair of US law firm Paul Hastings’ Greater China division, purchased House B at 31 Barker Road in a court-facilitated sale, Land Registry records showed.

The luxury residence previously belonged to Yeung, the former owner of Birmingham City Football Club who completed a six year sentence for money laundering in 2019 and still owes over HK$230 million in payments under a court order linked to the criminal case.

The home is a second property on the Peak street for Li, a mainland China native now based in Hong Kong, where he counts among his neighbours on Barker Road Alibaba founder Jack Ma, flamboyant art collector Qian Fenglei and Henderson Land heir Martin Lee. 

Elite Address

Li’s buy is one of four detached houses which comprise the development at 31 Barker Road and measures 3,203 square feet (298 square metres) in saleable area, along with a 2,600 square foot garden, according to public records.

The legal advisor purchased the home through British Virgin Islands-registered Constance Peace Limited for the equivalent of HK$89,916 per square foot, which is “within a reasonable range” for such a property, according to Bobby Mak, real estate valuer at Hong Kong-based CHFT Advisory and Appraisal.

“Barker Road is famous for its breathtaking view towards the Victoria Harbour for being around the highest point just below the fog line,” said Mak.

The analyst noted, however, that House B at 31 Barker Road is slightly above the fog line which could hinder its view in Hong Kong’s Spring fog season, which may have affected its price.

An 8,910-square-foot mansion at 28 Peak Road with a view similar to Yueng’s new trophy, but below the fog line, sold for over HK$1 billion, or at $118,000 per square foot, last September, said Mak.

Li’s latest acquisition comes after the rainmaker attorney paid HK$740 million in 2013 to buy House 8 at 28 Barker Road in what was then Hong Kong’s second costliest home purchase ever. 

Disgraced Tycoon

Hairdresser-turned-businessman Yeung had paid HK$146 million to purchase House B at 31 Barker Road in 2005 and is reported to have used the property as collateral for a HK$90 million loan in 2010 to prop up the holding company for Birmingham City after acquiring the football club in 2009.

The house fell into the possession of receivers in 2014 after Yeung defaulted on payments to Wing Hang Bank, which had provided the loan. The bank put the asset up for sale for a reported HK$300 million while Yeung was in prison, with the sale effort derailed due to court proceedings against the jailed homeowner.

The home went back on the market in June 2023 at an asking price of HK$410 million.

After missing a July court deadline for handing over HK$338 million in ill-gotten assets demanded as part of his 2014 money-laundering conviction, Yeung was facing a potential 10-year prison sentence should he fail to pay his obligations. 

Then reports surfaced in October indicating that a buyer had been found for the Barker Road home at HK$266 million. That deal ultimately failed to materialise.