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DevelopingChina Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan sentenced to life imprisonment
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Ji Siqiin BeijingandZhu Wenqianin BeijingPublished: 12:27pm, 20 Aug 2026Updated: 1:16pm, 20 Aug 2026
A court in Shenzhen has sentenced China Evergrande Group founder and former chairman Hui Ka-yan, also known as Xu Jiayin, to life imprisonment for “multiple combined crimes”, confiscating all Hui’s personal property.
Meanwhile, Evergrande was fined 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.31 billion), while its onshore operating unit Hengda Real Estate was fined 7 billion yuan – some of the biggest corporate fines levied by a Chinese court for criminal charges.
Hui was also deprived of political rights for life. He pleaded guilty to charges including embezzlement of corporate assets and corporate bribery in April.
According to the court, Hengda Real Estate’s illegal gains shall be further recovered, and where recovery is insufficient, restitution shall be ordered.
The violations from Evergrande, Hengda Real Estate and Hui took place between 2016 and 2021, the court said in its judgment. Through sustained and large‑scale financial fraud, they inflated assets, concealed liabilities and committed crimes including illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities and illegal disclosure of key information, it added.
Evergrande and Hui gained control over financial institutions and illegally siphoned off credit and insurance funds for use by the group, the court said, perpetrating crimes such as bribery, illegal granting of loans and illegal use of funds.
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