Hong Kong court orders Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan to pay costs by Feb 20 or lose right to defend in $46.8b lawsuit

The Hong Kong High Court has given Evergrande founder Hui Ka-yan until February 20 to pay all outstanding litigation costs, failing which he will be barred from defending himself in the company’s HK$46.8 billion claim against him and other former executives.

China Evergrande Group, already in liquidation with debts over HK$2.6 trillion, sued founder Hui Ka-yan, ex-wife Ding Yumei, former CEO Xia Haijun, and ex-CFO Pan Darong in 2024, seeking to recover about HK$46.8 billion in dividends and remuneration.

The company obtained an injunction freezing roughly HK$60 billion in global assets held by the defendants. When Hui refused to disclose his worldwide properties, the court in September 2025 appointed Evergrande’s liquidators as receivers over his assets.

In a prior ruling, Hui was ordered to pay HK$1.2 million in legal costs by November 4, 2025, but he did not comply. Liquidators then sought a court order in December 2025 to bar him from continuing the defence unless he paid within a set period.

Judge Herbert Au-yeung Ho-wing noted that Hui had neither paid the HK$1.2 million nor fully disclosed his assets as required, despite still requesting leniency. Hui’s lawyers claimed HK$20 million remained on deposit with his former firm Baker & McKenzie for legal fees, and his current firm JC LLP was trying to access it.

The judge rejected this, pointing out that Hui had already used undisclosed funds to cover other legal expenses, showing he could similarly pay the outstanding HK$1.2 million.

After reviewing the facts, the judge concluded Hui was deliberately defying court orders. Au-yeung described the repeated contempt as unforgivable and said Hui faced full liability for about 43.318 billion yuan.

The court granted Hui 14 days to arrange payment and ordered him to settle all relevant costs by February 20 at the latest. Failure to do so will result in him being deprived of the right to defend himself in the case.