Evergrande Founder Hui Ka Yan Sentenced to Life in Prison Over Embezzlement, Bribery
- Hui Ka Yan, founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande, pleaded guilty in April to embezzlement and corporate bribery charges
- Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court handed down the life sentence and ordered the confiscation of all of Hui's personal property
- Several other Evergrande executives, including Hui's two sons, also received jail terms as part of the same court proceedings
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The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande, Hui Ka Yan, has been sentenced to life in prison, with a court ordering the confiscation of all his personal assets following his guilty plea to charges of embezzlement and corporate bribery.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence after Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, admitted to the charges in April.
Source: Getty Images
According to BBC, beyond the life term, the court levied fines totalling 15.82 billion yuan (approximately £1.73 billion or $2.35 billion) against his former companies for offences that included falsifying financial records and hiding debt.
The court said Hui and his businesses "seriously disrupted" China's property market, causing substantial economic losses across the sector.
Other Evergrande executives also jailed
Hui was not the only figure punished. Several other senior executives within the company, including his two sons Xu Zhijian and Xu Tenghe, received prison sentences ranging from 22 months to 18 years, according to Chinese state media.
From rags to Asia's richest man
Hui's fall from the top is particularly striking given how far he once climbed. Raised by his grandmother in rural China, he built Evergrande into the country's largest real estate developer after founding it in 1996. The company was once valued at over $50 billion on the stock market, and Hui himself was at one point considered the wealthiest person in Asia.
That rise, however, was built on aggressive borrowing. Evergrande expanded rapidly using enormous amounts of debt, a strategy that eventually caught up with the company when it began to collapse under the weight of its liabilities. The fallout rattled China's broader property sector, dealt heavy losses to investors, and left domestic banks exposed to significant financial risk.
Hui's sentencing draws a line under one of the most consequential corporate collapses in recent Chinese history, closing a chapter that has reshaped how regulators and investors view the country's real estate industry.
Source: Getty Images
Former chinese billionaire sentenced to 30 years
Legit.ng earlier reported that Guo Wengui, once considered one of China’s wealthiest businessmen, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the United States for orchestrating a billion-dollar fraud scheme.
The former property developer fled China in 2017, seeking asylum in the US after being accused of corruption by senior Chinese officials.
Source: Legit.ng
