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Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan sentenced to life in prison
The court said Hui pleaded guilty to eight charges tied to financial fraud and securities misconduct, and ordered forfeiture of his personal property alongside fines for Evergrande Group.
Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China’s Evergrande, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to fraud-related charges, according to the Guardian Business. The court also ordered all of his personal property be confiscated.
The ruling followed Hui’s April guilty plea to eight charges, including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, fraudulently issuing securities, and bribery. The outlet also reported that Evergrande Group was fined 8.8 billion yuan, with the property arm fined 7 billion yuan, as stated by Chinese state media.
The Guardian Business said the convictions were linked to the company’s debt crisis, which intensified during a period when China was seeking to reduce reliance on real estate. The court said Hui’s conduct, between 2016 and 2021, violated state laws by using large-scale financial fraud to inflate assets and conceal liabilities, and that it caused “exceptionally heavy economic losses.”
Evergrande’s troubles escalated after regulations limited how much debt property firms could hold, contributing to stalled construction and liquidity problems as demand weakened during the Covid-19 pandemic, the outlet said. More than 50 individuals tied to Evergrande were also sentenced on Thursday, with prison terms ranging from 20 months to 18 years.