The Minneapolis Police Department released more information Wednesday regarding the investigation of Chinese tech billionaire Richard Liu who allegedly raped a University of Minnesota student last August.
The files released Wednesday, July 24, consist of primary documents referenced in the investigation, including police interview transcripts and text conversations between the alleged victim, her friend and her boyfriend.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s office dismissed criminal charges against Liu in December, citing a lack of evidence. A civil case filed against Liu in April is ongoing, with the alleged victim seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for charges including sexual assault, battery and false imprisonment, according to court documents.
The alleged victim was a volunteer in the Carlson School of Management’s Doctor of Business Administration – China program. The alleged victim attended a dinner as a student volunteer with Chinese businessmen, including Liu, as part of the program last August.
The dinner took place at Origami Restaurant in Uptown on Aug. 30, where she was instructed to sit next to Liu, according to court documents. The alleged victim was the only female at the table, according to a police report. At least 15 men appear present, based on video footage from Origami.
Liu encouraged her to drink alcohol in excess, according to the court complaint. She told police that, during the dinner, Liu said he wanted to bring her to New York in his private jet. She drank sparkling water at first, refusing wine, but was repeatedly told by Liu he would lose face if she didn’t toast with them.
“… okay, fine, I’ll drink,” she recalled to investigators, according to police documents.
She said she went to the restroom with one of Liu’s assistants and begged her, “Please help me, I don’t want to, I don’t want to do this sort of thing, I don’t want to go to New York, I just want to like, I, I’m a normal, I, I’m a normal girl, I just want to like, keep studying, I don’t want to do this, like, please help me, please, bring me back home, please,” according to police documents.
She told police that as she was leaving the restaurant, “he dragged my arm and he put his coat all over my body and he was holding my shoulder. I tried to escape, but I was feeling too dizzy, I can’t walk by myself,” according to police documents. “I can’t walk by myself, I, I can’t call a Uber to, to come back to my apartment by myself and they, they didn’t tell me where I was going, where, where they’re, where they’re gonna take me.”
Shortly after, Liu allegedly raped her at her apartment, according to police documents.
Text messages translated to English and released by MPD show the alleged victim was hesitant to go to police for fear of retaliation. Messages to her boyfriend said: “I don’t want anyone to know,” “I will die” and “I just want to escape.”
In an interview with police, the alleged victim recalled conversations with officers the morning of the incident, and said “And he asked me what happened, I told him I was raped, but not that kind of rape, ’cause, you know, not that kind of rape, I don’t want to like, let, let him be arrested, I don’t want to let him angry, so I like, so I told him I was raped. ‘Cause I didn’t know what [redacted] told the police. If [redacted] told the police that I was raped, okay, I’ll tell him, I’ll tell him the truth.”
Later in the interview, she said “‘Cause I know he’s famous, he has power and he’s, he has money. I don’t want me to get hurt.”
In a statement, Jill Brisbois, an attorney for Liu, said the documents support the Hennepin County Attorney’s decision not to charge Liu with criminal conduct and that “The evidence released today again reaffirms our strong belief from the very beginning that Mr. Liu is innocent.”
Mandy Xue Bai, program director for the DBA program, reported the incident to police Sept. 1, according to police documents.
Minnesota Daily policy is to not name individuals who claim they have been sexually assaulted, unless given permission.
This is a breaking news report. More information will be added as it becomes available.
