Evergrande founder sentenced to life in prison by Chinese court

A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group, to life in prison for large-scale financial crimes, bringing a definitive legal conclusion to the collapse of the world's most heavily indebted property developer.

The Verdict

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court convicted the 67-year-old Hui on eight charges including fundraising fraud, illegal absorption of public deposits, misuse of funds, and corporate bribery. Hui had pleaded guilty in April to all charges. The court also stripped him of his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his personal property.bbc+3

Beyond Hui's sentence, the court fined Evergrande Group 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) and its main subsidiary Hengda Real Estate 7 billion yuan, totaling approximately 15.82 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) in corporate penalties. Five other senior executives received prison terms ranging from six to 18 years.straitstimes+2

From Rags to Riches to Ruin

Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, rose from humble beginnings in rural China to become what was once estimated to be Asia's richest person. He founded Evergrande in 1996 and oversaw its aggressive expansion into China's largest real estate developer, with a peak stock market valuation exceeding $50 billion.bbc

The court found that between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande under Hui's direction took millions of dollars in pre-sale funding from potential homebuyers that was never used for construction, instead channeling the money into new developments and resulting in hundreds of unfinished projects.streamlinefeed+1

A Crisis That Reshaped China's Economy

Evergrande's troubles began after Beijing introduced measures in 2020 to control excessive borrowing in the property sector. The company defaulted in 2021 on most of its more than $300 billion in liabilities, was ordered liquidated, and had its shares removed from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August 2025.investing+1

Hui's sentence, as Reuters reported, "ends his rags-to-riches story but is unlikely to bring much solace to Evergrande's domestic and foreign creditors". China's property market has continued to struggle in the aftermath, with the sector remaining a drag on the world's second-largest economy.aol+1