MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on prosecutors decision in U.S. not to file charges against Chinese billionaire in alleged assault (all times local):
2:45 p.m.
An attorney for Chinese billionaire Richard Liu has welcomed a decision by Minnesota prosecutors not to charge him after a Chinese citizen at the University of Minnesota accused him of sexual assault.
Jill Brisbois, an attorney for Liu, said Friday that Liu was arrested “based on a false claim,” and that the decision by Hennepin County prosecutors not to file charges “vindicates him.”
Despite the prosecutors’ decision not to file charges, Brisbois says Liu’s reputation “has been damaged like anyone falsely accused of a crime.”
Prosecutors said Friday that “profound evidentiary problems” would have made it “highly unlikely” that any charge could have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Liu is founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com. He was arrested Aug. 31 on suspicion of felony rape and released. He returned to China.
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1:55 p.m.
Minnesota prosecutors say there will be no charges filed against Chinese billionaire Richard Liu, who was arrested in Minneapolis after a Chinese college student accused him of sexual assault.
Liu is founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com. He was arrested Aug. 31 on suspicion of felony rape and released. He returned to China. Prosecutors said Friday that “profound evidentiary problems” would have made it “highly unlikely” that any charge could have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Liu was in Minneapolis for a weeklong residency as part of the University of Minnesota’s doctor of business administration China program.
Liu’s attorneys have said he is innocent. JD.com has said he was falsely accused.
Liu is known in Chinese as Liu Qiangdong. He is worth $7.5 billion.
