You have to ask, when a billionaire is accused of a crime, if the money made them do it? No, we are not saying the money is responsible for the crime, but we wonder, with such vast wealth and generally being surrounded by sycophants, if they believe they are a bit above the law. (They are.)
Wealth is a freedom lubricant, allowing you to slide in and out of tight situations without consequence. This is even more prevalent in more corrupt countries. So when an extremely wealthy person from a corrupt country visits a slightly less corrupt country and expects to get away with similar shenanigans, they can encounter a problem. Is this the case with Chinese billionaire Richard Liu (Liu Qiangdong)?
Richard Liu, chief executive of JD.com, is accused of raping a young woman in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This woman is less than half his age and insists she was raped after they went to dinner and drank heavily. [Details]
Did he do it? We do not know, and as of this writing he has not been charged. Still, even if he did, his lubricant will diminish the consequences. That is not right, but it is reality.
And for those of you proclaiming how wrong it is that money is such a lubricant, ask yourself why you treat people with money differently than others. Yes, you! Why do you do this?