Sept 29 (Reuters) – The founder of China Evergrande (3333.HK), the world’s most indebted property developer, is being investigated for “illegal crimes”, a fresh challenge for the tycoon and his embattled company as it struggles to stay afloat.
Hui Ka Yan, 64, who founded Evergrande in 1996 in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, is the latest tycoon to come under scrutiny since Chinese President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
Following is a list of some other high-profile Chinese executives who have been investigated or arrested under Xi’s leadership.
ZHAO WEIGUO, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF TSINGHUA UNIGROUP
In March, the former chairman of the chip conglomerate was charged with crimes including corruption and illegally earning profits for his friends and family.
Originating as a branch of China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup emerged in the previous decade as a would-be domestic champion for China’s laggard chip industry.
But the company racked up debt under Zhao. It spent billions on chip-related acquisitions but also unrelated, unprofitable businesses ranging from real estate to online gambling that eventually led it to default on bond payments in late 2020 and face bankruptcy.
BAO FAN, FOUNDER OF CHINA RENAISSANCE
The founder of China Renaissance Holdings (1911.HK) was detained in February and the investment bank said in August he was co-operating with authorities as investigations continued.
It was unclear what the investigation was related to. Bao, who previously worked at Credit Suisse Group and Morgan Stanley, has been hailed as one of China’s best-connected bankers, involved with major technology mergers including the tie-up of ride-hailing firms Didi and Kuaidi, food delivery giants Meituan and Dianping.
His whereabouts are unknown.
XIAO JIANHUA, FOUNDER OF TOMORROW HOLDINGS
Xiao has not been seen in public since 2017. In 2022, he was sentenced to 13 years in jail and his Tomorrow conglomerate was fined 55.03 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) by a Shanghai court.
The Chinese-Canadian billionaire, known to have links to China’s Communist Party elite, was whisked away in a wheelchair from a luxury Hong Kong hotel in the early hours with his head covered, a source close to the tycoon told Reuters at the time.
The Shanghai court said at sentencing that Xiao and Tomorrow gave shares, real estate, cash and other assets to government officials totaling more than 680 million yuan for two decades from 2001 to 2021, to evade financial supervision and seek illegitimate benefits.
CHEN FENG, CHAIRMAN, AND TAN XIANGDONG, CEO, HNA GROUP
Chen and Tan of HNA Group were taken away by Chinese police due to suspected criminal offenses in 2021 when HNA Group, once one of China’s most acquisitive overseas buyers, was placed under bankruptcy administration.
In the 2010s, HNA Group, whose flagship business is Hainan Airlines (600221.SS), had used a $50 billion global acquisition spree, mainly fueled by debt, to build an empire with stakes in…
Source from www.reuters.com
