Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan sentenced to life, company fined over $2 billion in China fraud case

A Chinese court on Thursday (August 20, 2026) sentenced Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, to life imprisonment and imposed fines totaling more than $2 billion on the company, in a landmark ruling tied to the collapse of one of the world's most indebted developers.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court convicted Hui, 67, and Evergrande of large-scale financial fraud, including inflating the group's assets and concealing its liabilities. In a statement, the court also said Hui abused his position in orchestrating fraud and misappropriating company assets.

Evergrande Group was fined 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion), and Evergrande Real Estate Group was fined 7 billion yuan ($1.04 billion), the court said. The total fines exceed $2 billion.

The court described the case as exceptionally serious. "The amount involved is exceptionally large, the circumstances are particularly egregious, and extraordinarily heavy economic losses have been caused," the statement said. "The harm to society is extremely serious. Therefore, severe punishment should be given in accordance with the law."

Hui's sons, Xu Tenghe and Xu Zhijian, were also sentenced alongside senior Evergrande executives and others linked to the group on charges including illegally taking public deposits, fundraising fraud and the illegal use of funds, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency. More than 50 individuals were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 22 months to 18 years, although a breakdown of individual sentences was not provided.

Hui had pleaded guilty in April to various charges, including illegal absorption of public deposits, fraud and bribery, after being detained in China. The once high-profile businessman had long been out of public view before appearing in a courtroom photo released by the court, wearing a navy blue shirt and standing between two uniformed officers behind a sign reading "defendant."

Evergrande, founded in 1996, defaulted on its debts in 2021 and was later ordered to liquidate assets. Its downfall followed regulatory tightening by Chinese authorities in 2020 aimed at curbing excessive borrowing in the real estate sector. The collapse triggered a broader downturn in the property market, with home prices falling by roughly 20% or more since 2021, weighing on the country's economy.

Investigations by authorities in Hong Kong and mainland China found that Evergrande had manipulated its financial data by tactics that included prematurely booking revenue from property sales before construction was completed and apartments delivered. Revenues were overstated by approximately $80 billion over 2019 and 2020, they said.

Hui was previously fined 47 million yuan ($6.5 million) in 2024 and banned from China's securities markets for life by the China Securities Regulatory Commission over inflating financial results, among other issues.

Once reported to be China's richest man, Hui rose from a rural upbringing in central China's Henan province. Born in 1958, he worked in the steel industry in the 1980s before establishing Evergrande, which prospered during the country's housing boom. He later owned the football club Guangzhou Evergrande and invested in ventures including theme parks and electric vehicles. He was also among businessmen who gained political influence by joining the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.