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JD.com's Billionaire CEO Was Arrested On Allegation of Rape (bloomberg.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the under-investigation dept.

JD.com's billionaire founder, Liu Qiangdong, is under investigation for a suspected rape in a weekend incident that led to his arrest in Minnesota. He was reportedly in Minneapolis for his studies since he is a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota. According to the Financial Times and Star-Tribune, the case involves a Chinese student at the college. Bloomberg reports: Liu was brought in at 11:32 p.m. Aug. 31 on an accusation of "criminal sexual conduct" and released just more than 16 hours later, according to arrest records. Minneapolis Police Department spokesman John Elder said the case is being investigated as a rape, but authorities decided not to keep Liu in custody and haven't imposed any travel restrictions while conducting their investigation. Police responded to a location Friday night, found Liu and another individual, took photos and arrested the CEO, Elder said. Liu, 45, returned to China after his release and was at work Tuesday at JD.com, the country's largest e-commerce company after Alibaba.

11 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Be careful if you are rich/powerful visitor in USA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Look at what happened to Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Meanwhile I heard that Harvey Weinstein is still out on bail.

  2. Not the first time by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Informative

    He got into a similar snafu in Australia a couple of years ago. That suggests he at least keeps playing too close to the line in terms of risking accusations. That's not necessarily saying he's guilty, just that he is doing something that invites accusations.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re: Not the first time by Luckyo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hint: those are not the same thing, and billionaires generally don't need to be sexually predatory. Human females are hypergamic, and therefore throw themselves all over men with peak status traits, such as extreme wealth. If anything, someone in his position has to reject advances of opposite sex too aggressively.

    2. Re:Not the first time by Luckyo · · Score: 3, Informative

      Straight from the story:

      >Earlier this year, a guest at a party Liu hosted in downtown Sydney was convicted of sexually assaulting a fellow guest after the event. There was no accusation of any misconduct by Liu. The billionaire lost a legal attempt to keep his name out of the records. Over the weekend, JD said it will take legal action against the publishing of untrue reports or rumors.

      Good to see that spreading false rumours that are clearly debunked in the linked story still gets happily modded up on slashdot as "insightful".

    3. Re:Not the first time by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Well, okay, a rape (allegedly) happened at one of his parties. He was not accused of rape himself then. I stand corrected. Thanks.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    4. Re: Not the first time by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Careful, nothing is worse than the wrath of a woman rejected.

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      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. What does him being a billionaire have to do with by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Why does the title need to describe him as a billionaire? Is that to make the class envy types despise him? Or to make an inference to really rich people being bad people?

    Besides that, why is this even on Slashdot? If he's convicted, it might be a story (as a CEO of a tech company no one outside of China has heard of). Until then, we are innocent until proven guilty in the US (not China) and this really is a non-story for the average nerd. Seems way to sensationalist, especially with the billionaire angle thrown in, to be worth posting.

  4. Re:Be careful if you are rich/powerful visitor in by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look at what happened to Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

    His career was destroyed and then the charges were dropped. So he was punished despite being convicted of nothing. So much for "presumption of innocence".

    Meanwhile I heard that Harvey Weinstein is still out on bail.

    As he should be. He hasn't been convicted of anything (yet).

    We should not complain when rich people are treated fairly. We should complain when people, rich or poor, are treated unfairly.

  5. Counterfeit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Reminds me of a joke. A prostitute walks into a bar and hands over a 100 dollar note to the bartender and asks for a drink. Bartender says the note is counterfeit. She shouts " I have been raped!!"

    Its obvious that he is hosting parties with Escorts and then there are some disputes on what was paid for and what was not.

  6. Re:Per Bloomberg and other sources by Cederic · · Score: 2

    Demonstrating once more why rape accusation victims should have anonymity.

    At least he doesn't have a boss that'll ask him awkward questions, and is in a country where his female employees wont sue the company for forcing them to work with an accused rapist.

  7. Re:What is JD? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    Do average Chinese people care about every move that Jeff Bezos makes?

    Slashdot is not a site for "average" people.