SHENZHEN, China: Evergrande founder jailed for life on Thursday after a court convicted Hui Ka Yan over financial crimes linked to the collapsed property group, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court also ordered the 67-year-old founder to forfeit all of his personal assets.
China Evergrande Group was fined CNY 8.82 billion, or about USD 1.31 billion. Flagship property unit Hengda Real Estate was fined CNY 7 billion.
The court said that Hui and the Evergrande entities engaged in large-scale financial fraud from 2016 to 2021, inflating assets and concealing liabilities.
Authorities also cited offences involving public deposits, fundraising, securities issuance and failures to disclose information.
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Hui had pleaded guilty during his trial, Xinhua reported earlier. Evergrande defaulted on its bonds in late 2021 after years of debt-fuelled expansion.
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Its collapse contributed to a wider crisis in China’s property sector. A Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande into liquidation in January 2024 after the company failed to present a viable restructuring plan.
China’s securities regulator had already banned Hui from the country’s financial markets for life in 2024.
