Property developer China Evergrande's founder, 67, gets life sentence

A China court sentenced the 67-year-old founder of property developer China Evergrande Group to life in prison on Aug. 20, 2026, after he was convicted of multiple crimes.

The South China Morning Post reported that Hui Ka Yan, known as Xu Jiayin in Mandarin, also had all his personal property confiscated and was deprived of political rights for life.

Charges, fines

Hui, who was also the group's former chairman, pleaded guilty in April 2026 to eight charges, according to Reuters.

This included the misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, illegally extending loans, fraudulently issuing securities and bribery.

BBC reported that the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court also fined his former companies 15.82 billion yuan (about S$2.98 billion) in total.

This was due to multiple crimes, which included falsifying records and concealing debt.

Other Evergrande personnel sentenced

In addition, the court also publicly ruled on the same day on cases of illegal deposit absorption, fundraising fraud and illegal use of funds by Evergrande personnel.

SCMP reported that this saw 56 individuals, including Hui's two sons, Xu Zhijian and Xu Tenghe, being sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment.

Their jail terms ranged from 22 months to 18 years, with fines or property confiscated.

BBC reported the court as saying that Hui and his businesses had "seriously disrupted" the Chinese property market which resulted in significant economic losses.

Violations

SCMP reported that a court judgement said the violations by Evergrande, Hengda Real Estate and Hui took place between 2016 and 2021.

Through "sustained and large‑scale financial fraud", they "inflated assets, concealed liabilities and committed crimes", the court said.

This included "illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities and illegal disclosure of key information".

Hui also took advantage of his position as the group's chairman to orchestrate financial fraud and embezzle corporate assets in the name of dividend distribution, SCMP reported.

Humble beginnings to fall from grace

Once estimated to be the richest person in Asia, Hui came from humble beginnings before he ventured into property development and set up Evergrande in 1996, BBC reported.

Large amounts of borrowed money were then used to fund an aggressive expansion programme, which saw the group become China's biggest real estate developer.

It previously held a stock market valuation of more than US$50 billion (S$63.6 billion).

However, it earned the title of the world's most indebted real estate developer in June 2023 when its total liabilities reached US$332 billion (S$421.85 billion), SCMP reported.