Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant JD slumped about 4.5 percent on the Nasdaq Stock Market in premarket trade on Tuesday, after the company’s founder and CEO Liu Qiangdong was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States, on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct and later released without any charges or bail.
Liu returned to China on Monday and appeared at JD headquarters in Beijing on Tuesday morning, where he attended a signing ceremony with its business partner.
JD has teamed up with Chinese textiles group Shandong Ruyi in the field of smart logistics, supply chain solutions, big data-enabled inventory management and membership systems, according to the company. Meanwhile, the partners will establish a joint fashion fund to finance new initiatives and support up and coming designers and brands.
Jail records from Hennepin county, Minnesota, where Minneapolis is located, show Liu was arrested at 11:32 pm on Friday and released at 4 pm on Saturday, pending further investigation and possible criminal charges. The jail records do not provide details of the alleged incident.
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said Sunday that he couldn’t provide any details because the investigation is considered active. He declined to say where in Minneapolis Liu was arrested or what Liu was accused of doing, the Associated Press reported.
Chinese social media was abuzz over Liu’s arrest in the US, which was the most discussed topic on micro blogs on Monday.
JD is China’s second-largest e-commerce company and a major rival of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Its investors include Chinese tech heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd and US retailer Walmart Inc.
The company reported its net income amounted to 122.3 billion yuan ($17.9 billion) in the second quarter of the year, an increase of 31.2 percent year-on-year, while its net profits dropped to 478.1 million yuan, down 51.04 percent compared with same period last year.
