China jails founder, fines disgraced property giant Evergrande

On Thursday, China sentenced Evergrande Group founder Xu Jiayin to life in prison and fined the property giant over $2 billion for various offenses, including large-scale financial fraud. Evergrande, once a prominent player in China's real estate market, fell from grace after defaulting on loans in 2021 due to a tightening credit environment.

The court in southern China issued the life sentence against Xu, who also had political rights revoked and had his personal property confiscated. The verdict came after the company and its real estate arm were found guilty of engaging in continuous financial fraud between 2016 and 2021, gaining control of financial institutions through bribery.

Xu pleaded guilty to charges of embezzlement and bribery in April. The court emphasized that Xu and Evergrande's actions severely disrupted China's economic order and undermined the integrity of state personnel. Xu's fall from grace, once one of the country's wealthiest individuals and a member of the Communist Party's advisory body, was starkly illustrated by before-and-after photographs showing his transformation from a smiling, well-dressed man to a white-haired, unsmiling defendant.