Shenzhen court hands Evergrande founder Hui life sentence

2026-08-20

Life sentence and asset seizure

A Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong province sentenced Hui Ka Yan, founder of embattled property developer China Evergrande Group, to life imprisonment at first instance on the 20th and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets.

Huge falsification hid debt

The court found that Hui and others had, from 2016 to 2021, illegally and continuously carried out large-scale falsification of accounts, overstating assets to conceal liabilities. It said they unlawfully raised funds from the public, issued securities, and used bribes to control financial institutions, obtain loans and divert the money to the company. China Evergrande Group and its main operating unit China Evergrande Real Estate were also fined 8.82 billion yuan and 7 billion yuan, respectively.

Evergrande's rapid rise and collapse

Hui used his position as de facto head of China Evergrande Group to lead the falsification of accounts and embezzle company assets in the name of dividends, the court said. It said the scale of the fraud was huge, the economic losses were large and the impact on society was extremely serious. China Evergrande Group rose to the top of the industry during the property boom, but tighter lending rules from the Chinese government worsened its funding strains and it defaulted in 2021. Hong Kong's High Court accepted a petition from overseas creditors in 2024 and decided to begin liquidation proceedings.

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