INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Richard Liu's lawyer said he maintains his innocence and has cooperated fully with the investigationMINNEAPOLIS/NEW YORK: With the Chinese
billionaire Richard Liu at her Minneapolis area apartment, a 21-year-old University of Minnesota student sent a WeChat message to a friend
in the middle of the night
She wrote that Liu had forced her to have sex with him."I was not willing," she wrote in Chinese on the messaging application around 2 a.m
"Tomorrow I will think of a way to escape," she wrote, as she begged the friend not to call police."He will suppress it," she wrote,
"You underestimate his power."This WeChat exchange and another one reviewed by Reuters have not been previously reported
One of the woman's lawyers, Wil Florin, verified that the text messages came from her.Liu, the founder of Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com
Inc, was arrested later that day on suspicion of rape, according to a police report
He was released without being charged and has denied any wrongdoing through a lawyer
He has since returned to China and has pledged to cooperate with Minneapolis police.Jill Brisbois, a lawyer for Liu, said he maintains his
innocence and has cooperated fully with the investigation."These allegations are inconsistent with evidence that we hope will be disclosed
to the public once the case is closed," Brisbois wrote in an email response to detailed questions from Reuters.Loretta Chao, a spokeswoman
for JD.com, said that when more information becomes available, "it will become apparent that the information in this note doesn't tell the
full story." She was responding to detailed questions from Reuters laying out the allegations in the woman's WeChat messages and other
findings.Florin Roebig and Hang Associates, the law firms representing the woman, said in an email that their client had "fully cooperated"
with police and was also prepared to assist prosecutors
Florin, asked if his client planned to file a civil suit against Liu, said, "Our legal intentions with regard to Mr
Liu and others will be revealed at the appropriate time."Representatives for both Liu and the student declined requests from Reuters to
interview their clients.The police department has turned over the findings of its initial investigation into the matter to local prosecutors
for a decision on whether to bring charges against Liu
There is no deadline for making that decision, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.The Minneapolis police and the county
attorney declined to comment on detailed questions from Reuters.Reuters has not been able to determine the identity of the woman, which has
But her WeChat messages to two friends, and interviews with half a dozen people with knowledge of the events that unfolded over a two-day
period provide new information about the interactions between Liu and the woman, a student from China attending the University.The case has
drawn intense scrutiny globally and in China, where the tycoon, also known as Liu Qiangdong, is celebrated for his rags-to-riches story
Liu, 45, is married to Zhang Zetian, described by Chinese media as 24-years old, who has become a celebrity in China and works to promote
JD.com.As the second-largest ecommerce website in the country after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the company has attracted investors such as
Walmart Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google and China's Tencent Holdings.Liu holds nearly 80 percent of the voting rights in JD.com
Shares in the company have fallen about 15 percent since Liu's arrest and are down about 36 percent for the year."IT WAS A TRAP"Liu was in
Minneapolis briefly to attend a business doctoral program run jointly by the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and
China's elite Tsinghua University, according to the University of Minnesota
The doctoral program is "directed at high-level executives" from China.Liu threw a dinner party on August 30 for about two dozen people,
including around 20 men, at Origami Uptown, a Japanese restaurant in Minneapolis where wine, sake and beer flowed freely, according to
restaurant staff and closed circuit video footage reviewed by Reuters.Liu, who Forbes estimates is worth about $6.7 billion, ordered sashimi
by pointing his finger at the first item on the menu and sweeping it all the way down to indicate he wanted everything, one restaurant
The group brought in at least one case of wine from an outside liquor store to drink along with the dinner, according to the restaurant
staff.Security video footage from the restaurant shows the group toasted each other throughout the night.Later the woman told a second
friend in one of the messages that she felt pressured to drink that evening."It was a trap," she wrote, later adding "I was really
drunk."The party ended around 9:30 p.m
The tab: $2,200, the receipt shows
One inebriated guest was helped out of the restaurant by three of his associates, according to the restaurant security video footage.Liu and
the woman then headed to a house in Minneapolis, according to one person familiar with the matter
Another source said that the house had been rented by one of Liu's classmates in the academic program to give the class a place to network,
smoke, drink whiskey and have Chinese food every night.But they did not go in
Liu and the student were seen outside the house before Liu pulled her into his hired car, a person with knowledge of the incident said.In
the WeChat message to one of her friends sent hours later, the student said Liu "started to touch me in the car.""Then I begged him not to
but he did not listen," she wrote.They ended up back at her apartment, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.Reuters could not
determine what happened over the next two hours
According to the police report, the alleged rape occurred at around 1 a.m.The woman subsequently reached a fellow University of Minnesota
student who notified the police, according to two sources and her WeChat messages.Minneapolis police came to her apartment early that
morning while Liu was there, but made no arrests, another source familiar with the situation said
Reuters could not determine exactly what occurred during the police visit, but the source said the woman declined to press charges in Liu's
presence.In a WeChat message with one of her friends, she asked her friend why the billionaire would be interested in "an ordinary girl"
like her."If it was just me, I could commit suicide immediately," she wrote
"But I'm afraid that my parents will suffer."By Friday morning, she also wrote to one of her two friends that she had told several people
about what had happened, including the police, a few friends and at least one teacher
She wrote that she would keep her bed sheets
"Evidence cannot be thrown away," she wrote.On Friday afternoon, the student went to a hospital to have a sexual assault forensic test, the
source said.Police officers arrived at a University of Minnesota office shortly after an emergency call around 9 p.m that night
The student was present at the office, alongside school representatives, and accused Liu of rape, the source said.Representatives for the
University of Minnesota declined to comment on detailed questions from Reuters.Liu came to the university office around 11 p.m
while police were there, according to the person familiar with the matter
As an officer handcuffed him, Liu showed no emotion
"I need an interpreter," he said, according to the source.Liu was released about 17 hours later
Minneapolis police have said previously that they can only hold a person without charges for 36 hours
Within days, Liu was back in China, which has no extradition treaty with the United States."Liu has returned to work in Beijing and he
continues to lead the company
There is no interruption to JD.com's day-to-day business operations," Loretta Chao, the JD.com spokeswoman, told Reuters.© Thomson Reuters
2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
