Richard Liu, the chief executive officer of JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce firm after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., was arrested by police in Minneapolis Friday on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct and later released.

The details of the alleged conduct have not been disclosed but police have confirmed that Liu (left) was arrested Friday evening, then released without the need for bail 16 hours later on Saturday as they continue the investigation.

Criminal sexual conduct, per Minnesota law, can cover a variety of offenses, including a sexual act with a minor, someone who is mentally impaired, incapacitated or physically helpless and “circumstances at the time of a sexual act that cause the complainant to have a reasonable fear of imminent great bodily harm.”

According to Reuters, Liu was in town visiting the University of Minnesota, where he is a student in its business administration doctorate program. The program is said to take place primarily in Beijing in partnership with Tsinghua University. It’s aimed at full-time executives, but sometimes participants visit Minneapolis as part of their studies.

Claiming instead that he was on a business trip, JD.com said in a statement that Liu “was questioned by police in Minnesota in relation to an unsubstantiated accusation” and that  “police quickly determined there was no substance to the claim against Mr. Liu, and he was subsequently able to resume his business activities as originally planned.”

Local police were withholding details but told TechCrunch that the investigation is ongoing.

This isn’t the first time Liu has been investigated in relation to sexual misconduct. The Chinese billionaire was accused of attempting to suppress information about a sexual assault that occurred after a 2015 party at his Australian home. Longwei Xu, a property developer, was later found guilty of sexual assault, but Liu was not charged in relation to the matter.

In addition to its massive e-commerce business, the Nasdaq-listed JD.com also has interests in cloud services, blockchain platforms and drones. Its more prominent investors include Google LLC and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Photo: JD.com