Chinese property giant Evergrande admits to misconduct by executives

Six executives of struggling real estate giant Evergrande illegally cashed in several of the company's investment products ahead of time, the Chinese group said in a statement on Saturday.
Normally, the company's proprietary investments may only be cashed out after a certain period. However, the managers had the investments liquidated between May 1 and September 7, ahead of the intended payment schedule.
Evergrande announced it was taking the matter very seriously, was demanding the managers repay the cashed out funds and was planning to impose "severe penalties."
The misconduct by the executives comes amid an existential corporate crisis at the Shenzhen-based property giant. Evergrande's debt is the equivalent of more than 300 billion dollars.
Since the beginning of the year, the group's share value has fallen by three quarters. Recently, several rating agencies further downgraded Evergrande's creditworthiness and warned of defaults.