China sentences Evergrande founder to life in prison over ‘large-scale’ fraud

The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Evergrande real estate group’s founder Hui Ka Yan to life in prison for massive financial fraud.

In the ruling, the Chinese court also fined Evergrande Group and Evergrande Real Estate 8.82 billion yuan and 7 billion yuan respectively.

Hui Ka Yan, once called Asia’s richest man, pleaded guilty in April for committing various financial crimes including fraud, corporation bribery, issuing illegal securities, and illegal absorption of public deposits.

According to Forbes, In 2017, Hui had a net worth ​of $45.3 billion, the highest in Asia.

"The criminal acts of Evergrande Group, Hengda Real Estate, and Hui Ka Yan ... involved particularly huge amounts and egregious circumstances, caused particularly significant economic losses and ​caused particularly serious social harm, and should be severely punished according to law," the court said in a statement.

Besides the founder, the court also sentenced five other senior executives to fines and prison terms ranging from 6-18 years.

Evergrande became the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer with more than the $300 billion in liabilities before it was ordered to liquidate. As of last August, about $255 million worth of assets sold compared to creditors’ claims totalling $45 billion.

Outside China, the liquidators filed a lawsuit against Hui to freeze his and former spouse’s offshore assets in a push to retrieve $6 billion in dividends paid to the founder and other former executives.

In 2020, the conditions became more severe for the Group when Chinese officials cracked down on excessive borrowing, leading to the worsening of real estate market crisis.