The founder of China’s Evergrande has been reportedly placed under what is known as ‘residential surveillance’.
Hui Ka Yan, whose company he started is currently labouring under debts of more than €300 bn, has not been arrested according to Bloomberg, but police surveillance of him indicates matters could be moving from a debt restructuring story to a potential criminal matter.
Increased scrutiny is certainly upon Evergrande management with probes already underway into the CEO and CFO, while some staff working for its wealth management arm have allegedly been the subject of arrests.
Evergrande has been struggling with financial difficulties for many years with commentators saying the company usually finds a way out of problems. But news of a potential criminal twist has not been seen before.
In late August, the company resumed trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
