Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Was Detained In France

He is accused of complicity in serious crimes.

Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messenger, as well as the creator and former head of Vkontakte, was detained on Saturday evening in France. This is reported by the French TV channel TF1.

According to the channel, 39-year-old Durov was detained at about 20:00 while leaving his private plane at Le Bourget airport, when he flew from Azerbaijan accompanied by a bodyguard and a woman.

The reason for the detention was that Durov was listed in the database of wanted persons. The warrant for his detention was issued by the French police on the basis of a preliminary investigation. It entered into force only if a businessman appeared in France.

“He failed tonight. That's not clear. Maybe it was just a stopover? In any case, he was taken,” a source close to the investigation told TF1.

Durov was taken into custody, and in the near future he will be brought before a judge, who, according to the channel's sources, is likely to decide on the arrest of the businessman. It is likely that he will be charged with a number of serious crimes due to his refusal to moderate content on Telegram and cooperate with law enforcement agencies, give them information about users.

Thanks to this policy, the messenger has become "the number one platform for organized crime," says a channel source among investigators. All this, according to the investigation, makes Durov an accomplice in fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography and terrorism.

"Countless crimes are committed on his platform, and he does nothing to moderate them or cooperate with the authorities," a source familiar with the case told TF1.

For French investigators, this detention is of international importance, the channel notes: it is an attempt to frighten criminals who freely communicate on Telegram, and to put pressure on European countries to strengthen joint work to force the messenger to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

Despite having French citizenship, Durov has recently avoided traveling to Europe for fear of possible arrest, reports TF1.

Against the background of news about the detention of the founder of Telegram, the rate of TON cryptocurrency used in the messenger fell by more than 15% in the first couple of hours.

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