While Hui Ka Yan, the disgraced founder of Evergrande Group, reportedly spends his days in a Chinese detention facility, his long-time lieutenant and former CEO, Xia Haijun, is living a remarkably different reality. From a multi-million dollar estate in Irvine, California, the man once known as Evergrande’s 'mastermind' is currently locked in a brazen legal battle with Hong Kong liquidators. Xia, who orchestrated the developer’s aggressive leverage and global bond issuances, is now testing the limits of judicial patience by requesting a massive increase in his court-allotted living expenses.
Recent court filings in Hong Kong reveal that Xia has petitioned to have his monthly living allowance raised from HK$50,000 to approximately $43,000 USD. He argues that the current amount is insufficient to maintain his family’s 'previous standard of living,' which includes tuition for his son’s private school and luxury items like Dior handbags for his daughter. This request comes despite the fact that Evergrande collapsed under a staggering $300 billion debt pile, leaving millions of Chinese homebuyers in financial ruin and subcontractors unpaid.
The optics of Xia’s request are particularly galling to the creditors and victims of the Evergrande collapse. Before the company’s official default, Xia executed what many analysts describe as a 'textbook exit,' liquidating over HK$1 billion in Evergrande-linked stocks and bonds before relocating to the United States. While he claimed to be on a business trip to Hong Kong, he never returned to the mainland, effectively placing himself beyond the immediate reach of Chinese criminal investigators.
However, the legal walls are slowly closing in through civil channels. In June 2024, the Hong Kong High Court issued a global 'Mareva injunction,' freezing up to HK$60 billion of Xia’s assets worldwide. Liquidators are currently seeking to claw back $6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and dividends paid to top executives between 2017 and 2020. During this period, Xia’s annual compensation was reportedly among the highest in the industry, fueled by the very leverage that eventually destroyed the company.
Transparency remains a major point of contention in the ongoing litigation. The court found that Xia initially failed to disclose significant assets, including three luxury properties in Irvine and Newport Beach and four high-end vehicles registered under his wife’s name. Valued at approximately $2400 million, these assets were only brought to light after the court threatened to revoke Xia’s right to a defense. The inclusion of his wife as a defendant and the subsequent freezing of her US-based assets marks a significant escalation in the liquidators' efforts to recover funds.
Xia’s legal maneuvers are viewed by many as a calculated strategic gamble. By petitioning for a higher allowance and engaging in protracted disclosure battles, he is likely gauging the resolve of both the Hong Kong judiciary and the Chinese authorities. If he can maintain a veneer of normalcy and secure a high-spending lifestyle through legal loopholes, it signals a failure of the global financial system to hold the architects of the world's largest property bubble accountable.