Chinese billionaire and JD.com founder Richard Liu has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a former University of Minnesota student who Alleged he raped her in his Minneapolis apartment Lawyers on both sides made the announcement late Saturday, after having dinner and drinking with wealthy Chinese officials in 2018.
A settlement amount was not disclosed.
Richard Liu, Joe Resigns as CEO of Beijing-based e-commerce company JD.com Amid heightened government scrutiny of China’s technology industry this year, the woman, Jingyao Liu, has been denied rape, and Prosecutors never filed criminal charges. A joint statement by lawyers for both sides called the encounter a “misunderstanding”.
“Ms. Jingyao Liu and Mr. Richard Liu A misunderstanding in Minnesota in 2018 resulted in substantial public attention and deeply hurt the parties and their families,” the joint statement said. “Today, the parties agreed to settle their legal dispute to resolve their differences and avoid pain and suffering caused by the lawsuit.”
The settlement was announced just two days before the civil trial began Monday in a Minneapolis courtroom. A jury of seven men and five women was chosen to hear the case on Friday.
Richard Liu is a celebrity in China, is part of a generation of entrepreneurs building the country’s Internet, e-commerce, mobile phone and other technology industries since the late 1990s. Forbes estimated his wealth on Saturday at $10.9 billion.
Jingyao Liu alleged that the attack took place in 2018, while Richard Liu was in Minneapolis to stay for a week at the University of Minnesota’s Doctor of Business Administration China program, which was geared towards high-level officials in China.
Jingyao Liu, a Chinese national, was at the university on a student visa and was a volunteer in the program at the time. The Associated Press does not usually name people accused of sexual assault, but Jingyao Liu has agreed to be publicly identified.
The lawsuit states that Jingyao Liu was 21 years old and that Richard Liu was in his mid-40s at the time. They are not related.
Richard Liu, also known as Liu Qiangdong, was arrested on suspicion of felony in August 2018, but prosecutors said the case had “profound evidence related problems” and declined to file criminal charges. .
Jingyao Liu sued Richard Liu and JD.com in 2019 alleging sexual assault and battery as well as false imprisonment.
The case attracted widespread attention at a time when the #MeToo movement was gaining ground in China. Richard Liu’s supporters and opponents launched an aggressive public relations campaign on Chinese social media; Censor closed some accounts who supported Jingyao Liu for “violating the rules”.
Jingyao Liu said in his lawsuit that he had to withdraw from classes in the fall of 2018 and seek counseling and treatment. Her lawyer said she has since graduated but has post-traumatic stress disorder. He sought compensatory and punitive damages from Richard Liu.
Her lawsuit says she was seeking more than $50,000, a standard figure that must be listed in Minnesota if a plaintiff wants to seek a larger sum. She was expected to ask the jury to award more prizes.
On the night of the alleged assault, according to the trial, Richard Liu and other officers went to a Japanese restaurant in Minneapolis and one of them invited Jingyao Liu at Richard Liu’s request.
Her lawsuit claimed that she was forced to drink when powerful people toasted her, and Richard Liu said she would insult him if she didn’t attend.
According to text messages reviewed by the Associated Press and Jingyao Liu’s interview with the policeShe said that after dinner Richard Liu pulled her into a limousine and held her despite her protests. He said that he raped her in his apartment. At one point, he wrote to a friend: “I begged him. But he didn’t listen.”
His friend informed the police, who had gone to his apartment. According to police, Jingyao Liu told an officer, “I was raped but not raped like that.” When asked to explain, she changed the subject, saying that Richard Liu was famous and she was scared. She told the officer that the sex was “spontaneous” and she didn’t want the police to get involved.
Police said they released Richard Liu because “it was unclear whether a crime had actually been committed.” In a later interview with an investigator, Richard Liu stated that the sex was consensual and that the woman “enjoyed the whole process very much.”
According to police, Jingyao Liu told a police sergeant that she wanted to speak to Richard Liu’s lawyer and threatened to go to the media if she didn’t. Richard Liu’s former lawyer recorded the phone call, in which Jingyao Liu said she did not want the matter to appear in the newspaper and “I just want the payment money and apologize and that’s it.”
The trial was expected to play a recording of the phone call as evidence. surveillance video From the restaurant, the exterior of the restaurant and the halls of the woman’s apartment complex were also expected to be played for jurors.