JD.com head Liu was arrested in US on allegation of rape, say police

The chief executive of China’s JD.com, Liu Qiangdong, was arrested last week on suspicion of rape, according to a US police report.

The reason for Mr Liu’s arrest in the US was initially disclosed as “criminal sexual conduct”.

The Chinese billionaire has denied any wrongdoing. He was released without charge but investigations are ongoing.

Shares in JD.com, one of China’s biggest e-commerce sites, hit an 18-month low on Tuesday.

Mr Liu, who is also known as Richard Liu, was arrested in the US on Friday and released on Saturday.

Minneapolis police told the BBC on Monday his release was “not indicative of the strength of the evidence”. No travel restrictions were imposed and Mr Liu has returned to China.

Earl Gray, a lawyer for Mr Liu, said he did not expect him to face charges, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“There is no believable or credible evidence that he has done anything wrong and he denies any wrongdoing,” Mr Gray said.

JD.com is one of China’s largest e-commerce sites and it is a competitor of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Mr Liu has a net worth of $7.5bn currently (£5.8 bn) , according to Forbes. He shared spot 140 with two others on Forbes’ 2018 billionaires list, where his net worth was put at $10.8bn.