The billionaire head of one of China’s top e-commerce sites who was arrested over the weekend in Minnesota is under investigation following an…
The billionaire head of one of China’s top e-commerce sites who was arrested over the weekend in Minnesota is under investigation following an accusation of felony rape in the Midwestern state, according to a Minneapolis Police report.
No charges have been filed against Liu Qiangdong, also known as Richard Liu, who is the founder of the Beijing-based online shopping platform JD.com, a rival to Alibaba.com. The Minneapolis police report did not provide details of the alleged incident leading to Friday’s arrest.
“We are putting resources to the investigation and our concern is to provide services to the complainant and to ensure that we’re protecting the rights of Mr Liu,” John Elder, a police department spokesman, told the South China Morning Post.
Liu, 45, was reportedly back in China by Monday and had returned to JD.com headquarters Tuesday morning. The company issued a statement saying that Liu had been falsely accused and that police found no misconduct.
Joseph Freiberg, a Minneapolis-based attorney apparently representing Liu, told The Minneapolis Star Tribune that he did not expect further developments in the case and said police had not seized Liu’s passport.
“Mr. Liu didn’t do anything wrong, and the police have released him without any restrictions,” Friedberg told the Star, adding, “I would bet my [law] license that he’s not going to be charged.
