Founder of JD.com Committed Incident in the US in 2018
Two Days Before Trial... Settlement Amount Undisclosed
Former chairman Liu Changdong, a Chinese billionaire and founder of JD.com, settled a sexual assault case through an agreement two days before the trial.
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Richard Liu, the former chairman and founder of JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company, has reached a sudden settlement with the other party ahead of a civil lawsuit for damages related to sexual assault.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Liu Jingyao (25), a Chinese international student. Liu claims that she was sexually assaulted by former chairman Liu in 2018 while attending the University of Minnesota's business school. According to the complaint, Liu volunteered as an international student for a special program at the University of Minnesota that invited Chinese businesspeople, and was then called to a dinner event. At the dinner, chaired by former chairman Liu, he and other businesspeople allegedly forced her to drink alcohol, and after she lost consciousness due to excessive drinking, he took her to an apartment in his car and sexually assaulted her, according to the plaintiff's claim. The defendant, former chairman Liu, denied the sexual assault charges, stating that the sexual encounter was consensual. Meanwhile, Liu stated that she has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since the assault and is seeking damages exceeding $50,000 (approximately 72 million KRW).
In a joint statement released on the night of the 1st (local time), lawyers for both sides said, "The case between Richard Liu and Liu Jingyao has attracted significant public attention and caused serious distress to the parties and their families," adding, "Therefore, today both parties have agreed to resolve the legal dispute, setting aside differences, to avoid further pain caused by litigation."
Prior to this, the Minneapolis court had formed a jury of seven men and five women on the 30th of last month, and the trial was scheduled for the 3rd. Immediately after the incident in 2018, former chairman Liu was arrested by Minneapolis police on sexual assault charges, but the prosecution did not indict him due to insufficient evidence.
Former chairman Liu is also famous as the protagonist of the "dirt spoon myth," having risen from a poor rural background to immense wealth. According to the economic media Forbes, his assets amount to $11.5 billion (approximately 16.5 trillion KRW), and in 2015, he made headlines again by marrying Zhang Zetian, a 19-year-younger Tsinghua University graduate known in China as the "Milk Tea Girl" for her beauty and talent. Richard Liu stepped down as CEO of JD.com in April of this year.
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