Evergrande founder gets life in prison, $1.3bn fine

SHENZHEN: Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China Evergrande Group and once one of Asia’s richest men, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court in a major case linked to the property developer’s spectacular collapse.

A court in Shenzhen also ordered Hui to pay a fine of more than $1.3 billion and confiscated his assets after finding him guilty in a case involving financial misconduct and other offences.

Hui, who built Evergrande into one of China’s biggest property developers, had admitted in April 2026 to eight charges, including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally obtaining money from the public and bribery.

The sentence marks a dramatic fall for a businessman who once ranked among Asia’s wealthiest individuals. His property empire grew rapidly during China’s real estate boom, with Evergrande expanding into residential projects and other businesses across the country.

The company’s financial troubles eventually became a symbol of the wider crisis facing China’s property sector. Evergrande collapsed into bankruptcy in 2023 after struggling under a mountain of debt, sending shockwaves through financial markets and raising concerns about the health of China’s broader economy.

Chinese authorities detained Hui after the company’s collapse as investigations into the developer and its management intensified.

The Shenzhen court also handed prison sentences ranging from six to 18 years to five senior Evergrande executives, along with financial penalties. In total, 56 people connected to the company were sentenced in the proceedings.

The court said the actions of Evergrande and its founder had caused serious negative consequences, resulting in substantial financial losses to the economy and causing wider harm to society.

The case has become one of the most high-profile legal consequences of China’s prolonged property crisis. Evergrande’s downfall exposed the risks created by aggressive borrowing and rapid expansion in the country’s real estate sector, which for years had been a major driver of economic growth.

Hui’s transformation from billionaire property tycoon to convicted executive also illustrates the scale of the consequences facing corporate leaders in China when major companies collapse amid allegations of financial wrongdoing.

Evergrande once represented the extraordinary expansion of China’s property market, but its downfall became a warning about the dangers of excessive debt and unchecked growth.

The life sentence and huge fine against Hui now bring a dramatic legal chapter to the company’s story. For investors, homeowners and creditors still affected by Evergrande’s collapse, however, the broader financial consequences of the property giant’s failure continue to reverberate.

The verdict is also likely to reinforce Beijing’s message that financial misconduct will face severe punishment, particularly when corporate failures threaten economic stability and public confidence.