Once the richest man in China, Hui Ka Yan will now spend the rest of his life in prison just five years after his property development company, Evergrande Group, collapsed and sent shockwaves through the Chinese economy.
Hui was sentenced on a variety of charges, including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, illegally extending loans, fraudulently issuing securities, and bribery.
Hui, 67, had previously pleaded guilty to the allegations. Evergrande has defaulted on most of its $300 billion in liabilities. It was the most indebted property developer in the world.
The company defaulted on its massive debt in 2021. As part of the penalties, Hui's assets have been seized. Evergrande is now in liquidation, with numerous creditors hoping to recover something to cover their massive losses.
"The amount involved is exceptionally large, the circumstances are particularly egregious, and extraordinarily heavy economic losses have been caused," the court wrote in a statement, according to Fox Business. "The harm to society is extremely serious. Therefore, severe punishment should be given in accordance with the law."
The network reported that the companies involved in the fraud were fined more than $2.3 billion. In total, sentences for the 56 individuals ranged from 22 months to 18 years, with Hui receiving a life sentence.
The company's collapse occurred after a government crackdown that focused on excessive borrowing in the real estate sector in 2020. Following that move, Hui was effectively cut off from borrowing and was unable to keep his structured fraud afloat.
According to Chinese authorities Hui and his associates had repeatedly overstated revenues and assets by tens of billions of dollars to acquire more and more loans and avoid liquidity issues.
