Hui Ka Yan, founder of China’s largest property developer Evergrande, has been sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to forfeit all personal assets, according to Chinese state media. The 67-year-old billionaire, once ranked by Forbes as the richest man in China with a net worth of $42.5 billion in 2017, pleaded guilty in April to multiple charges including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, extending unauthorized loans, fraudulent securities issuance, and bribery.

The court ruling comes amid the fallout from Evergrande’s protracted debt crisis, which culminated in the company’s delisting from the Hong Kong stock exchange last year. Evergrande has defaulted on the majority of its liabilities, totaling approximately $300 billion, triggering significant economic concerns in China and beyond.

In addition to Hui’s sentencing, Evergrande Group was fined 8.8 billion yuan (around $1.3 billion), while its property subsidiary received a separate fine of 7 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court condemned Hui’s actions, stating they “severely disrupted the order of the socialist market economy” and resulted in “exceptionally heavy economic losses.”

More than 50 other individuals associated with Evergrande also received prison sentences ranging from 20 months to 18 years, reflecting the breadth of the legal crackdown on those involved in the company’s financial misconduct. The verdict marks one of the most high-profile legal actions related to China’s real estate sector turmoil, underscoring the government’s efforts to enforce regulatory compliance and stabilize the market.