Hui Ka Yan, founder of troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande, is sentenced to life in prison

Chinese property developer Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, has been sentenced to life in prison and the companies fined a total of $2.3 billion, a court in the southern city of Shenzhen said Thursday.

BEIJING — Chinese property developer Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, has been sentenced to life in prison and the companies fined a total of $2.3 billion, a court in the southern city of Shenzhen said Thursday.

The decision marks a milestone in Evergrande’s saga after it collapsed with more than $300 billion in liabilities when Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate industry in 2020. That triggered a crunch among many developers and brought on a downturn in the property market that has weighed on the broader economy ever since.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court convicted Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, and Evergrande of engaging in large-scale financial fraud in inflating the group’s assets and concealing its liabilities.

In a statement, the court also said Hui had abused his position in orchestrating financial fraud and misappropriating company assets.

Residential buildings at China Evergrande Group’s City Plaza development in Beijing in 2023.Andrea Verdelli / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileIt also sentenced several other senior Evergrande executives to prison terms of up to 18 years on charges including illegally taking public deposits and fraud, the court said.