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Hong Kong – Richard Liu, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant GD.com Inc.,
A lawsuit brought against him by a former University of Minnesota student has ended in a high-profile legal dispute in China.
The settlement came Saturday, two days before a Minneapolis jury was set to hear testimony to prove that he sexually assaulted student Jingyao Liu in 2018. Mr. Liu, who is both in his late 40s, and Ms. Liu, now 25, are expected to testify in the civil trial.
At midday in China on Sunday, JD.com said in what it described as a joint statement by the parties that they had agreed to settle the lawsuit and “set aside their differences.”
The dispute between Ms. Jingyao Liu and Mr. Richard Liu in Minnesota in 2018 attracted a lot of public attention and caused great suffering to the parties and their families, the statement read. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ms. Liu’s lawyers released a similarly worded statement, adding that Ms. Liu would not comment further.
Mr. Liu issued a separate statement on his own behalf, in which he apologized and expressed hope that his life and work would return to normal as soon as possible. In the statement, Mr. Liu addressed his wife Zhang Zetian, who is famous on Chinese social media, directly, thanking him for her support and patience. “Without her, I wouldn’t be alive today,” Mr. Liu wrote. “I wish everyone a better tomorrow!”
In the year In August 2018, Mr. Liu sued a tech billionaire among prominent Chinese businessmen for allegedly dragging her home and assaulting her in her apartment after they both attended an alcohol-fueled group dinner at a Minneapolis restaurant. The two are not related.
At the time, Mr. Liu was attending an executive program at the University of Minnesota, where Ms. Liu, an undergraduate student, was volunteering for the program. Mr Liu’s company JD.com is also named as a defendant in the suit.
Mr. Liu was arrested on suspicion of rape in Minneapolis on the night of August 31, 2018. He was released the next day. Mr Liu denied all wrongdoing and said the sex was consensual.
In the year In 2018, Minneapolis prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against Mr. Liu, citing insufficient evidence, and Ms. Liu filed a civil suit.
Had Ms. Liu convinced the jury, it could have awarded both compensatory damages, which cover medical and counseling bills and punitive damages intended to punish the defendant for gross misconduct.
Mr. Liu has largely retreated from the public eye. Late last year, he stepped back from day-to-day involvement in the e-commerce giant, and in April this year, Mr. Liu stepped down as CEO.
-Qianwei Zhang contributed to this article.
Write Rebecca Feng at rebecca.feng@wsj.com
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