China Evergrande Founder Accused of Exaggerating Revenue by $78 Billion

China Evergrande Group allegedly exaggerated its revenue by over $78 billion and committed securities fraud for two years before collapsing in 2021, according to Chinese regulators. The founder of Evergrande, Hui Ka Yan, was accused of making fraudulent decisions and organizing fraud. Hui was fined $6.5 million and banned from China’s financial markets for life, while former CEO Xia Haijun was fined $2 million and also banned. The company’s main unit, Hengda, was fined $580 million. Regulators found that Hengda inflated its revenue by nearly $30 billion in 2019 and by $48.6 billion in 2020. The collapse of Evergrande, with its massive debt, has had a significant impact on China’s real estate sector.