Pevel Durov, Telegram Founder and CEO, was reportedly arrested on Saturday 24th August 2024 at Bourget airport outside Paris, France.
Telegram is one of the most used messaging app globally with over 1 Billion Downloads and 14.4 Million reviews on Google Playstore. It’s one of the most secure messaging apps along Signal and others. But it’s focus on security and privacy makes it vulnerable to be exploited by criminals and other illegal activities.
The 39-year old Durov was arrested at Bourget airport after his private jet landed from Azerbaijan at around 8pm(local time)
According to TF1, OFMIN, a part of the national directorate of the French judicial police, had issued an arrest warrant on Durov, due to lack of cooperation with law enforcement.
Durov (Telegram CEO) was expected to appear in court on Sunday.
Durov was born in Russia but later relocated to Dubai where he currently lives and where Telegram Headquarters are based, he holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates.
The warrant on Durov was only valid on French soil. As a result, he avoided travelling through countries where Telegram is under surveillance and therefore he travelled via the UAE, former Soviet countries and South America to avoid arrest in Europe, according to TF1
According to TF1, the investigators from France’s anti-fraud directorate placed Durov in custody, and the Telegram CEO will appear before a judge on Saturday night before a possible indictment on Sunday. The alleged offenses include: terrorism, narcotic supply, fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen goods and others.
According to BFMTV, Mr Durov was arrested for the app’s possible use in money laundering, drug trafficking and sharing of child sex abuse content.
Durov is a Tech Entrepreneur and billionaire who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5bn (£12bn).
What Telegram CEO Durov said on one Video Interview
Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently revealed to Tucker Carlson that a Telegram engineer was approached and attempts were made to secretly hire him to install a backdoor that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on users. Watch the Video Here:
He is said to have left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands of the government to shut down opposition groups on his earlier VK Social Media Platform, which he sold and for refusing to handover data on Ukranian protesters, to the security agencies.
The Russian embassy in France is expected to give more clarification on the situation and what’s going on after the events at the airport.
Telegram has grown over the years with new features like Telegram Wallet and The Open Network(TON), which has brought many people to interact with the Web 3 Crypto World.
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