Minnesota prosecutors to review rape allegations vs. JD founder

Prosecutors in Minnesota are looking at evidence against Chinese billionaire Liu Qiangdong in an alleged sexual assault, as the Minneapolis Police Department has completed its initial investigation, the Hennepin County attorney said Thursday.

They will review the evidence and decide whether to bring charges, said County Attorney Mike Freeman. There is no deadline for making a decision, and the office said it would have no further comment in the meantime.

Liu, 45, founder of e-commerce giant JD, was arrested on Aug 31 in Hennepin County on suspicion of rape. He was released without bail the following afternoon and then went back to China.

The Beijing-based company said Liu has returned to work, and his attorneys have said he didn't commit a crime.

Liu, who also goes by Richard Liu, was in Minneapolis to take classes at the University of Minnesota, where he was enrolled in the Carlson School of Management to fulfill the American residency requirement for a US-China business administration doctoral program.

As China's second-largest e-commerce company and a major rival of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, JD has a market value of about $45 billion. Liu owns about 17 percent of its shares, according to company filings.

The company reported net income of $17.9 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 31.2 percent year-on-year, although it has reported only one profitable quarter since going public in May 2014. JD posted a $334 million loss in its last quarter.

Liu owns more than 15 percent of JD stock and controls nearly 80 percent of the company's voting rights. Forbes recently put Liu's net worth at $6.8 billion, ranking him the 18th richest person in China in 2017.

Liu is married to Zhang Zetian, a 25-year-old online celebrity who graduated from Tshinghua University in 2015.

Contact the writer at ruinanzhang@chinadailyusa.com