China's property developer giant has become its also its most indebted and defaulted on most of its liabilities and payments in 2021. Founder Hui Ka Yan "pleaded guilty and expressed remorse," the court said.
https://p.dw.com/p/5C7Ri Evergrande's rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards [FILE: Sept26, 2021]Image: Aly Song/REUTERSAdvertisementThe founder of China's Evergrande Group, the most indebted property developer in the world, has pleaded guilty to charges including fraud and bribery, a Chinese court in the southern city of Shenzhen has said.
Founder Hui Ka Yan "pleaded guilty and expressed remorse" in trial proceedings against him and Evergrande on Monday and Tuesday, the court said in a posting on its official Wechat account.
The property developer giant defaulted in 2021 on most of its $300 billion (roughly €255 billion) in liabilities and billions of dollars of wealth management product payments.
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Evergrande and its founder Hui are accused of "illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, illegally issuing loans, illegally using funds, fraudulently issuing securities, disclosing important information in violation of regulations, embezzlement and [corporate] bribery," a court statement said.
Those attending the court hearings included representatives of those involved in past fundraising, as well as members of China's legislative body, the National People’s Congress.
The court will issue its verdict at a later date it has yet to set.
This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.
