Chinese billionaire settles lawsuit over alleged rape in Minneapolis

A settlement between a Chinese language billionaire and the previous College of Minnesota pupil he was accused of raping has been reached simply two days earlier than the case was because of go to trial.

A joint assertion issued on behalf of JD.com proprietor Richard Liu and former U of M pupil Jingyao Liu acknowledged that the pair had agreed to “put aside their variations, and settle their authorized dispute as a way to keep away from additional ache and struggling attributable to the lawsuit.”

The assertion says the 2018 incident “resulted in a misunderstanding that has consumed substantial public consideration and introduced profound struggling to the events and their households.”

The small print of the settlement haven’t been disclosed. Based on the Bloomberg Index, Richard Liu is price an estimated $12 billion because of his possession of the China-based on-line retailer JD.com.

Jingyao Liu, who just isn’t associated to Richard Liu, was a 21-year-old pupil on the College of Minnesota when the alleged rape occurred.

She accused Liu of forcing himself upon her in a automobile, then sexually assaulting her at her condo after they’d dined as half of a bigger group at Origami in Uptown in August 2018.

Richard Liu – identified extra generally as Liu Qiangdong in China – had claimed their engagement was consensual. Whereas county prosecutors declined to prosecute, claiming they might be unable to show the case past an inexpensive doubt in a court docket of regulation, Jingyao Liu sued.

The BBC stories that the case was of big curiosity in China, with Jingyao Liu thrust into the highlight as a outstanding determine in China’s burgeoning #metoo motion, and the civil trial was set to present the Chinese language public a uncommon glimpse right into a high-profile case given it was set to play out in a U.S. court docket.

Reached by the New York Occasions by textual content message after the settlement was introduced, Jingyao Liu stated: “I am okay. I didn’t make it to the top however that was all I may do.”