Evergrande Founder Hui Ka Yan Sentenced To Life In Prison.
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China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka Yan has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on August 20, 2026, following his conviction on financial crime charges. The court ordered the complete confiscation of Hui’s personal assets and handed down a combined fine of 15.82 billion yuan ($2.35 billion) against China Evergrande Group and its main domestic operating subsidiary, Hengda Real Estate. Hui had pleaded guilty in April 2026 to eight distinct charges, including fundraising fraud, misuse of corporate funds, illegal public deposit-taking, securities violations, and bribery. The ruling marks the judicial climax of Evergrande’s debt crisis, which escalated after defaulting on over $300 billion in total liabilities in late 2021. In addition to Hui’s life sentence, the Shenzhen court sentenced dozens of related corporate executives including two of Hui's sons to prison terms ranging from 22 months to 18 years.
Hui Ka Yan, founder of China Evergrande Group, has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court over financial crimes linked to the collapse of the world’s most indebted property developer.
A court in Shenzhen also ordered the confiscation of all of Hui’s personal property. The 67-year-old former billionaire pleaded guilty in April to eight charges, including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, and illegally taking public deposits.
Evergrande defaulted on most of its $300 billion in liabilities in 2021, triggering a prolonged crisis in China’s property sector and weighing on the country’s economy and financial markets. The company was later ordered into liquidation by a Hong Kong court.
At the height of his fortune in 2017, Hui was estimated to be worth $45.3 billion, making him Asia’s richest person at the time, according to Forbes. His wealth later collapsed as Evergrande’s financial problems deepened.
The court also fined Evergrande 8.82 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) and its main subsidiary Hengda Real Estate 7 billion yuan. Five other senior executives were handed prison sentences ranging from six to 18 years.
Hui’s conviction marks a dramatic end to the rise of a businessman who transformed Evergrande from a property developer into a vast corporate empire spanning real estate, electric vehicles, sports, and other businesses.
The case also underscores the consequences of the aggressive debt-fuelled expansion that preceded Evergrande’s collapse and became a symbol of China’s wider property crisis.
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