Evergrande founder sentenced to life in prison by Chinese court

Hui Ka Yan, the founder of Evergrande, a massive Chinese property developer that collapsed with over $300 billion in liabilities, has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the company's financial crimes. In addition to his prison sentence, Hui was also fined and had all of his personal property confiscated by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. His former companies were fined a total of 15.82bn yuan (£1.73bn; $2.35bn) over multiple crimes, including falsifying records and concealing debt. Hui pleaded guilty in April to charges including embezzlement of assets and corporate bribery, and was convicted of overseeing Evergrande's large-scale financial fraud that inflated the company's assets while concealing its liabilities. Several other senior Evergrande executives were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from 22 months to 18 years for their roles in the company's crimes. The collapse of Evergrande shook China's property sector and hit investors and domestic banks hard, marking a key moment in the fallout from the company's failure.