Lawyers for JD.com founder Richard Liu Qiangdong said evidence released by law enforcement officials in the United States exonerated the billionaire, who was accused of rape last year by a Chinese student at the University of Minnesota.

“The evidence released today again reaffirms our strong belief from the very beginning that Mr Liu is innocent,” Jill Brisbois, a lawyer for Liu, said in a statement after the release of material in Minnesota on Wednesday.

Prosecutors announced in December that Liu, who had been arrested on August 31, would face no criminal charges because the case had “profound evidentiary problems” and it was unlikely they could prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

His accuser, Liu Jingyao, has since filed a civil lawsuit against the tech CEO over the alleged assault. The personal injury suit also names JD.com as a defendant and seeks more than US$50,000 in damages.

View photos Richard Liu after his arrest in Minneapolis on August 31. Photo: Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP More

“The written police report, in addition to the surveillance video, fully dispels the misinformation and unsubstantiated speculation that has been widely circulated and irrefutably supports the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office decision not to file charges against our client,” Brisbois said on Wednesday.

“Mr Liu remains grateful for the hard work of law enforcement to resolve this matter.”

The county attorney released more than a dozen redacted transcripts of interviews with Liu’s accuser and others who witnessed interactions between the student, who was identified as a University of Minnesota undergraduate.

Videos of Liu, 46, and the student walking arm-in-arm as they entered the building where the woman lived, before the alleged sexual assault, were also included in the materials made available by the county prosecutor’s office.

Chad Floren, one of the lawyers representing Liu Jingyao, who was 21 at the time of the alleged assault, did not respond to messages left with his office and on his mobile phone.

Liu Jingyao said Richard Liu forcibly assaulted her in her apartment after plying her with alcohol at a business networking dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Minneapolis with other wealthy Chinese executives on August 30, according to the complaint filed in Hennepin County court.

Richard Liu was released the day after his arrest and returned to China hours later. He had been in Minneapolis to take classes at the University of Minnesota, where he was enrolled at the Carlson School of Management to complete the American residency of a US-China business administration doctorate programme.

Transcripts of police interviews with Liu Jingyao and others at the dinner, the driver of the limousine that took her and Richard Liu to the apartment building and JD.com employees offered conflicting accounts of whether the billionaire forced himself on her.

The police records also include the transcript of a September 1 phone conversation the student had with Brisbois, during which she said she preferred to settle the matter with a cash payment and an apology from Richard Liu. When Brisbois asked how much she wanted, the student asked for Richard Liu to make an offer.

Liu Jingyao’s comments in an interview with an investigator 11 days after the alleged assault reflect continued indecisiveness over whether to press charges, citing concern that Richard Liu “has a lot of money” and “can even hire killers … to hurt my parents”.

View photos Footage from surveillance camera of Richard Liu and Liu Jingyao in the corridor of her apartment building. Photo: Minneapolis Police Department More