A Chinese court sentenced Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka Yan to life in prison on Thursday, seizing his entire personal fortune and imposing fines totaling $2.01 billion against the company and its subsidiaries.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court found Hui guilty of fraud and embezzlement related to fundraising activities, a verdict that follows his guilty plea in April. The court also levied an 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) fine on Evergrande and a 7 billion yuan penalty on its subsidiary Hengda Real Estate. Five other executives received prison terms ranging from six to 18 years.
Evergrande, once China’s largest property developer, has been grappling with insolvency since 2021, when its total liabilities ballooned to approximately $300 billion. The company’s collapse has become emblematic of China’s broader property sector crisis, which has weighed on the world’s second-largest economy for years.
The ruling against Hui marks the culmination of a dramatic fall from grace for the billionaire, whose once-dominant real estate empire now faces liquidation and restructuring. Creditors, both domestic and international, are unlikely to recover substantial portions of their claims, underscoring the severity of Evergrande’s financial distress and the challenges ahead for China’s property market recovery.
