Chinese Court Sentences Evergrande Founder Hui Ka Yan to Life in Prison for Financial Fraud
A court in Shenzhen, China sentenced Hui Ka Yan, founder of China Evergrande Group, to life in prison on Thursday, following his conviction on charges of large-scale financial fraud. Evergrande and its real estate subsidiary were fined a combined total of approximately $2.3 billion. Several other senior Evergrande executives also received prison sentences of up to 18 years.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court convicted Hui Ka Yan, also known as Xu Jiayin, of orchestrating financial fraud, abusing his position, and misappropriating company assets, according to a court statement reported by NPR. Hui had pleaded guilty in April to charges including illegal absorption of public deposits, fraud, and bribery after his arrest in mainland China.
The court fined Evergrande Group 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) and Evergrande Real Estate Group 7 billion yuan ($1.04 billion), for a combined total of roughly $2.3 billion. Other senior executives received sentences on charges including illegally taking public deposits and fraud.
Investigations by authorities in Hong Kong and mainland China found that Evergrande had manipulated financial data through tactics including prematurely booking revenue from property sales before apartments were completed and delivered to buyers, according to NPR. Revenues were overstated by roughly $80 billion over 2019 and 2020.