Hui Ka Yan, the chairman and founder of China Evergrande Group, has been put under police control, according to a Bloomberg News report released on Wednesday.
According to the investigation, it is unclear why exactly the chairman was put under surveillance. However, the report makes it clear that this type of police action in China can not be considered formal detention and does not mean that Hui Ka Yan will be officially detained and charged.
Reuters further reported that a source, someone close to Mr Hui ka Yan, said that the chairman had stopped contacting his staff a couple of days ago. It is not clear as to why. The Reuters industry source further added that the chairman had “become totally inaccessible”. Both sources are not identified by Reuters as they are not allowed to speak to the media.
Evergarande, the Chinese property development giant, has been permanently present in the news since 2021, due to the company’s inability to pay off its long-pending debt. Evergrand’s offshore debt is reportedly currently at of 31.7 billion USD.
On Monday, Evergrande´s shares dropped by 21.8 per cent, hitting the lowest point since September 5th.
According to Fern Wang, a senior researcher at KT Capital Group: “hope of any meaningful recovery for the Evergrande debt holders are vanishing”.