(Yicai) Oct. 11 -- Chinese property developer Yango Group denied rumors that its founder and chairman had been detained, after an online document showed that the once-billionaire was sentenced by a court in an over CNY500,000 (USD68,550) dispute.

The court did not take judicial detention measures against the legal representatives of the five companies mentioned in the document, including Yango’s Chairman Lin Tengjiao, the Shanghai-based developer told Yicai. The five companies involved in the dispute have negotiated and resolved the issue, so the court has already revoked the decision, it added.

The document circulating online yesterday showed that the legal representatives of the five firms were detained for 15 days by the Yuhang District People’s Court in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, for failing to fulfill a CNY511,800 note and refusing to declare their assets to the court.

Lin, 55, founded Yango in 1995. In 2020, the property developer achieved over CNY200 billion (USD27.4 billion) in annual sales, and Lin reached the 119th spot on the Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List with CNY17 billion (USD2.3 billion) net worth.

However, with the recession in China’s real estate sector, Yango has been facing financial pressures for the past two years and defaulted on debts in February last year. In August, the company was delisted from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after 21 years because its closing price was lower than CNY1 (14 US cents) for 20 consecutive trading days.

Yango narrowed its net loss by 48 percent to CNY1.9 billion (USD260.5 million) in the first half of the year from a year earlier. Its revenue rose 14 percent to CNY10.6 billion.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione