Evergrande Founder Hui Ka Yan Sentenced to Life in Prison

Hui Ka Yan, founder of China Evergrande Group, received a life sentence from the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Thursday. The court also confiscated all of his personal property and stripped him of political rights for life.

Hui pleaded guilty in April to eight charges that included misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, fraudulently issuing securities and bribery. The court said the crimes involved particularly huge amounts, caused significant economic losses and produced serious social harm.

Evergrande Group was fined 8.82 billion yuan. Its main subsidiary Hengda Real Estate received a 7 billion yuan fine. Five other senior executives, including Hui’s sons Xu Zhijian and Xu Tenghe, received prison terms ranging from 22 months to 18 years.

Evergrande defaulted in 2021 with liabilities above $300 billion. The failure became the symbol of China’s property-sector crisis. Once ranked Asia’s richest man with a peak fortune near $45 billion, Hui saw his wealth collapse as the company unravelled.

The court found that between 2016 and 2021 Hui and the companies continuously inflated assets and concealed liabilities through large-scale financial fraud. Homeowners and creditors continue to seek recovery through separate civil processes.

The sentence closes one of the most visible chapters of the property downturn that still weighs on Chinese growth and household confidence.