Chinese court jails Evergrande founder for life over fraud, fines group billions

A Chinese court sentenced Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin to life in prison on Thursday, confiscating all his personal property and revoking his political rights for life, according to a Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court announcement on WeChat.
The court also fined Evergrande Group 8.82 billion yuan (€1.12 billion) and its real estate arm, Evergrande Real Estate, 7 billion yuan (€890 million) for financial crimes including fraud, falsifying records, and concealing debt. Xu, also known as Hui Ka Yan, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges, including embezzlement, fraudulent capital raising, and misuse of public deposits.
Five other senior executives received prison terms ranging from six to 18 years, while 56 additional individuals linked to the company were sentenced to between one year and 10 months and 18 years, state media reported. Xu’s two sons, Xu Zhijian and Xu Tenghe, were among those jailed.
The court found that between 2016 and 2021, Xu and Evergrande engaged in large-scale financial fraud, inflated assets, and concealed liabilities. Prosecutors said the company and its executives used bribery to gain control over financial institutions, securing illegal loans and insurance funds.
Evergrande, once China’s largest property developer, defaulted in 2021 under $300 billion in debt, triggering a sector-wide crisis. A Hong Kong court ordered the liquidation of its listed holding company in January 2024 after failed restructuring attempts. The company’s stock market valuation had shrunk by 99% before its shares were delisted from the Hong Kong exchange in August 2025.
In March 2024, Xu was fined $6.5 million and banned from China’s capital markets for life after the company overstated revenue by $78 billion. The court previously heard that Evergrande diverted pre-sale funds from homebuyers—intended for construction—to new projects, leaving hundreds unfinished.
Xu, who founded Evergrande in 1996, was once ranked Asia’s richest man. The company’s collapse followed Beijing’s 2020 crackdown on excessive borrowing in the property sector, which strained Evergrande’s ability to service its debts. By June 30, 2023, the company reported liabilities of 2.39 trillion yuan (€305 billion).
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