Woman sues Chinese billionaire Liu for alleged rape

FILE – This 2018 file picture from Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minneapolis shows Chinese billionaire Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, the founder of Beijing based e-commerce site JD.com, which was arrested August 31, 2018, in Minneapolis with suspected criminal sexual behavior. A woman who said she was raped by Liu filed a lawsuit on April 16, 2019 against the billionaire and his company claiming that he and other wealthy Chinese leaders forced her to drink during a dinner hour before she was attacked. (Hennepin County Sheriff Office via AP, File)

MINNEAPOLIS – A woman who said she was raped by JD.com founder Richard Liu filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the billionaire and his company claiming that he and other wealthy Chinese leaders forced her to drink during one dinner a few hours before she was attacked.

Jingyao Liu, a student at the University of Minnesota, claims that Liu forced her into the vehicle after dinner and later raped her in her apartment. Litigation seeks compensation of more than $ 50,000.

Richard Liu, founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com, was arrested on August 31 in Minneapolis with suspected crime and raped in hours. Prosecutors announced in December that he would not be subjected to criminal charges because the case had "deep evidence problems" and that they were unlikely to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Li's defense lawyers then said that his arrest was based on a false claim. Liu issued a statement on Chinese social media saying that he did not break any law, but that his interaction with the woman hurt his family, especially his wife, and he hoped she would accept her excuse.

Lawyers for Richard Liu and representatives of JD .com did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The alleged attack occurred while Liu was in Minneapolis for a week's stay as part of the University of Minnesota Doctor of Business Administration China Program. The four-year program at the University's Leadership School is aimed at top executives in China and is a partnership with Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

Jingyao Liu is a Chinese citizen at the university on student visa and was a volunteer in the PhD program while Richard Liu was there. The Associated Press is not generally alleged victims of sexual assault without their consent; Her lawyer Wil Florin said that Jingyao Liu had agreed to be named.

The case said she was 21 at the time of the alleged attack. Florin said Richard Liu and Jingyao Liu are not related.

On the night of the alleged attack, Liu and other leaders went to Origami, a Japanese restaurant in Minneapolis. The woman volunteered on the invitation of Charlie Yao, another program leader. He made it as an event to honor volunteers, but no one else was invited, and Richard Liu had privately treated Yao to invite the plaintiff, the lawsuit said.

Jingyao Liu felt compelled to drink as the strong men shook her, with Richard Liu saying she would dishonor him if she didn't join, according to the lawsuit.

Text messages reviewed by The Associated Press and parts of the woman's interviews with the police show the woman claims that Liu pulled her into a limousine and made progress despite her protests. The woman spoke a friend: "I didn't ask him." But he didn't hear. "

The case said that a Liu aide turned the rearview mirror upside down, so that the driver could not see Liu groping the back student despite her protests. Liu, known in Chinese as Liu Qiangdong, is a prominent member of the Chinese The tech elite, with a $ 7.5 billion fortune, is part of a generation of entrepreneurs who have created China's internet, e-commerce, mobile phone, and other technology industries since the late 1990s. electronics store in Beijing to JD.com, China's largest online retailer, selling everything from clothes to toys to fresh vegetables.

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