Evergrande Faces $78 Billion Financial Fraud Charges: China's Largest Case to Date
Chinese regulators accused Evergrande, one of China's largest property developers, of the largest financial fraud case in mainland China's history, involving a staggering $78 billion. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) revealed that Evergrande had inflated its revenues by fabricating sales figures—214 billion yuan ($30 billion) for 2019 and 350 billion yuan ($48.6 billion) for 2020. The CSRC imposed a fine of CNY 4.175 billion (USD 580 million) on Hengda Real Estate, the group's primary Chinese unit, and banned Evergrande’s founder, Xu Jiayin, from the securities markets for life, fining him CNY 47 million (USD 6.5 million). This monumental fraud, uncovered after an eight-month investigation, led to Evergrande's forced liquidation by a Hong Kong court in January 2024, highlighting severe lapses in corporate governance and regulatory oversight.