Mingzhoushiji/Weibo via YouTube
- The billionaire Chinese founder and CEO of JD.com has been accused of rape by a college student in Minneapolis.
- Liu Jingyao, then a 21-year-old student, says Richard Liu plied her with alcohol at a dinner, assaulted her in a limousine, and sexually assaulted her in her apartment despite her telling him to stop.
- Newly leaked surveillance footage shows the student and the billionaire at dinner, and her linking her arm around the billionaire inside her apartment block.
- Both of their lawyers say the footage is consistent with their arguments. Richard Liu's lawyer said the clips "further dispel the misinformation and false claims" about the incident. Richard Liu denies the allegations.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Newly leaked surveillance footage shows the billionaire founder and CEO of Chinese tech giant JD.com with the woman accusing him of rape on the night he is accused of attacking her.
The two clips, which were uploaded by a mystery account on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Monday, show Richard Liu Qiangdong and Liu Jingyao — his accuser — at a group dinner before later walking arm-in-arm in her apartment block.
Lawyers for both Liu and the woman who accused him say that the footage supports their version of events. Richard Liu denies the allegations of misconduct.
Though the clips were edited, Richard Liu's attorneys confirmed the footage's authenticity, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Richard Liu, who is one of the richest people in China, is accused of raping Liu Jingyao in Minneapolis last August. Liu is a common surname in China.
The videos were also posted on YouTube. Here is the first:
Youtube Embed://www.youtube.com/embed/K13Qq_GvJh4
Width: 560px
Height: 315px
And the second:
Youtube Embed://www.youtube.com/embed/AGwO0VAJIis
Width: 560px
Height: 315px
Liu Jingyao filed a civil lawsuit against the CEO last week, alleging that he plied her with alcohol at dinner, assaulted her in a limousine, and raped her in her apartment despite her pleas for him to stop.
Read more: College student files lawsuit against the Chinese billionaire founder of JD.com after US prosecutors declined to charge him over rape accusation
The first video shows Richard Liu and Liu Jingyao, then a 21-year-old college student, eating and drinking at a group dinner in Minneapolis on August 30. (They are identified by the Chinese characters for their names — Richard Liu's are 刘强东, and Liu Jingyao's are 刘静尧.)
It's not clear who is behind "Mingzhou Events," the account that first uploaded the clips. The user had not posted anything before Monday.
According to the video, Richard Liu and Liu Jingyao were sat separated by two seats at the dinner, and appeared to be engaged in different conversations. After an unspecified amount of time, Richard Liu leaves the table, and Liu Jingyao leaves shortly after. There are no time stamps on this footage.
In a caption accompanying the videos, the "Mingzhou Events" account said that Liu Jingyao appeared to be sober and actively followed Richard Liu out of the restaurant. Business Insider has contacted representatives for Richard Liu and Liu Jingyao for comment on this account.
The second video, taken from inside an apartment block complex, shows Liu Jingyao inviting Richard Liu into the building, and chatting as they take an elevator and walk toward her apartment together. At various points she appeared to link her arm around his, while he put his hands in his pockets.
The Weibo user also noted that the student's behavior toward the CEO appeared intimate and consensual. Business Insider has contacted both their representatives for comment on this analysis.
The timestamp on the footage showed the time to be just before 10 p.m. on August 30. Richard Liu was arrested at Liu Jingyao's apartment later that night. According to the lawsuit, Richard Liu angrily said "What the hell?" in Mandarin to the student as he was arrested and detained, Bloomberg reported.
Both sides claim the video supports themLawyers for Liu Jingyao told the AP that both videos are consistent with what she told law enforcement and what she alleged in last week's lawsuit. Last week's lawsuit said she went to her apartment building with the CEO to be respectful, and believed he was just walking her to her door and would then leave, the AP reported.
Richard Liu's lawyer, Jill Brisbois, told the AP that the clips "further dispel the misinformation and false claims that have been widely circulated" and vindicate the decision by Minnesota not to press criminal charges against Richard Liu last December, for which they cited insufficient evidence.
Brisbois told the AP that, while Liu Jingyao claimed she was drunk and forced to drink, in the video she seems to walk without assistance. She added that "the way it [the dinner] gets described sounds so much more nefarious than it actually is ... She's step-in-step with him at every point."
The AP said it had seen the full, unedited surveillance footage, which has no audio and does not show what happened in Richard Liu's limousine or inside Liu Jingyao's apartment.
Liu Jingyao's lawsuit accuses Richard Liu and JD.com of a combined six counts of false imprisonment, civil assault and battery, and sexual assault or battery, Reuters reported. It seeks at least $50,000 in damages.
A spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney declined to comment on the new lawsuit last week, telling Business Insider that the office is not involved in the new civil lawsuit.
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