{
  "id": 2131137,
  "title": "El fundador de Evergrande, la promotora inmobiliaria china, condenado a cadena perpetua",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/el-fundador-de-evergrande-la-promotora-inmobiliaria-china-condenado-a",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-20T12:15:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Expansion ES",
    "slug": "expansion-es",
    "url": "https://www.expansion.com/economia/financial-times/2026/08/20/6a86ee9d468aebaa088b45a0.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "Hui Ka Yan, the founder of China's Evergrande real estate developer, has been sentenced to life in prison for multiple criminal offenses following the collapse of his company nearly five years ago. The Shenzhen People's Court declared Hui guilty of perpetrating fraud and other crimes, and ordered the confiscation of his assets. Evergrande was also fined 8.8 billion yuan ($1.3 billion), and its mainland China subsidiary was fined 7 billion yuan ($1.04 billion). Hui, who was once the wealthiest person in China in 2017, embodies the changing trajectory of a once-booming sector that drove China's growth but has since collapsed. Evergrande was the world's most indebted real estate developer at the time of its default in late 2021, with liabilities exceeding 300 trillion yuan ($44 trillion). Its collapse became a symbol of a broader crisis in the sector. In April, Hui admitted guilt to charges ranging from embezzlement to bribery. In April 2024, Evergrande's mainland China subsidiary was fined about $580 million for overstating revenue by nearly 80 trillion yuan ($11.7 trillion) between 2019 and 2020. Defaults formed part of a wave of payment suspensions in China's vast real estate sector, where developers have grown rapidly on a debt-driven model for years. The sector remains under pressure: new home prices have continued to fall and real estate investment has declined. The Shenzhen court declared Hui the real controller of Evergrande, finding that between 2016 and 2021, he, Evergrande, and Evergrande Real Estate had systematically falsified financial statements to inflate assets and hide liabilities. The court also included embezzlement of public funds, bribery, and fraudulent issuance of securities among the crimes. Evergrande listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2009 and issued billions of dollars in international bonds but was delisted last summer and the Hong Kong entity is now in liquidation proceedings. In April, two Hong Kong financial regulators fined Evergrande's auditor, PwC, a combined total of $1.3 billion for an investigation into the accounting firm's work with the struggling developer. In 2024, Chinese authorities also fined PwC 441 million yuan ($65 million) and the firm is facing scrutiny in Hong Kong courts over the fallout from the collapse. Financial auditors Edward Middleton and Tiffany Wong of Alvarez & Marsal are suing PwC for over $8 billion for negligence in the audit. On Wednesday, a court began hearing a review of a 1 billion Hong Kong dollar ($127 million) settlement agreement between Hong Kong's financial regulator and PwC presented by both parties.",
  "summary": "Hui Ka Yan, presidente de la promotora que acabó colapsando, cumple pena de prisión desde que Evergrande incurrió en impago hace casi cinco años. Leer",
  "key_points": [
    "Hui Ka Yan sentenced to life in prison for fraud and crimes",
    "Evergrande fined $1.3 billion, subsidiary fined $580 million",
    "Financial auditor PwC faces $1.3 billion fine and legal scrutiny"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}