A court in Shenzhen has sentenced China Evergrande Group founder and former chairman Hui Ka-yan, also known as Xu Jiayin on the mainland, to life imprisonment for “multiple combined crimes”, confiscating all of Hui’s personal property.Meanwhile, Evergrande was fined 8.82 billion yuan (US$1.31 billion), while its onshore operating unit Hengda Real Estate was fined 7 billion yuan – some of the biggest corporate fines levied by a Chinese court for criminal charges.The 67-year-old Hui was also deprived of political rights for life. He pleaded guilty to charges including embezzlement of corporate assets and corporate bribery in April.According to the court, the illegal gains of the defendants shall be further recovered, and where recovery is insufficient, restitution shall be ordered.“The financial distress of Evergrande in 2021 signalled the end of the ‘three highs’ business model – characterised by high debt, high leverage, and high asset turnover – for Chinese developers,” said Edward Chan, director of S&P Global Ratings. “We do not anticipate further meaningful impact on the Chinese property market following the court sentencing of Hui Ka-Yan.”The violations by Evergrande, Hengda Real Estate and Hui took place between 2016 and 2021, the court said in its judgment. Through sustained and large‑scale financial fraud, they inflated assets, concealed liabilities and committed crimes including illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities and illegal disclosure of key information, it added.Evergrande and Hui gained control over financial institutions and illegally siphoned off credit and insurance funds for use by the group, the court said, perpetrating crimes such as bribery, illegal granting of loans and illegal use of funds.