China Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan pleads guilty to fraud – Firstpost

The founder of debt-laden China Evergrande Group, Hui Ka Yan, pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in a Shenzhen court, in a landmark moment in the fallout from the developer’s $300 billion collapse that has battered China’s property sector.

In a statement posted on its official WeChat account, the Shenzhen Municipal Intermediate People’s Court said Hui admitted to offences including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud and illegally taking public deposits during hearings held on April 13 and 14. The court added that Hui had “pleaded guilty and expressed remorse”, with a verdict to be delivered at a later date.

Hui, once among Asia’s richest tycoons, has not been seen in public since being detained by Chinese authorities in 2023 following Evergrande’s default. Reuters could not immediately seek comment from him, while the company’s liquidators declined to respond.

Evergrande’s collapse in 2021 — under the weight of more than $300 billion in liabilities — triggered a crisis across China’s vast property sector, undermining investor confidence and weighing on economic growth. The developer defaulted on most of its offshore debt and struggled to repay billions owed to retail investors through wealth management products.

Court proceedings revealed that Evergrande had diverted funds raised from pre-sold homes into new projects, leaving hundreds of developments unfinished and intensifying distress among homebuyers across the country. At its peak, the company had more than 1,300 projects across over 280 cities.

Authorities have also accused Hui and the company of illegally extending loans, fraudulent securities issuance and bribery by corporate units, the court said.

Regulatory scrutiny has intensified over the past two years. In 2024, China’s securities regulator fined Hui $6.6 million and imposed a lifetime ban from the country’s securities market after finding that Evergrande’s flagship unit had inflated revenues and engaged in securities fraud.

Founded in 1996, Evergrande grew rapidly during China’s property boom, expanding beyond real estate into electric vehicles, consumer goods and even football. However, its aggressive debt-fuelled expansion left it vulnerable when Beijing tightened financing rules for developers in 2020.

The company’s shares were eventually delisted from the Hong Kong exchange in August 2025 after losing nearly all of their value, underscoring the scale of its downfall.

With inputs from agencies.