Evergrande founder jailed for life after property giant's $300B collapse
What's the story
Hui Ka Yan, the billionaire founder of China's Evergrande Group, the world's most indebted property developer, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court. The court also ordered the confiscation of all his personal property and assets. The ruling marks a major development in China's real estate crisis, which has affected the country's economy since 2021.
Charges
Hui pleaded guilty to 8 charges
In April, Hui had pleaded guilty to eight charges including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, and illegally taking public deposits.
Evergrande, once China's top developer, has defaulted on most of its $300 billion liabilities since 2021.
The company's financial woes have been a major contributor to the ongoing crisis in China's property sector.
Penalties
Other senior executives also sentenced to prison terms
Along with Hui's life sentence, the Shenzhen court also slapped a fine of 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) on Evergrande and its main subsidiary Hengda Real Estate. The latter was fined 7 billion yuan.
Five other senior executives from these companies were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 18 years along with fines for their involvement in the financial misconducts.