08/27/2024

Telegram CEO Durov’s Arrest Linked to Sweeping Criminal Investigation

Authorities detained him as part of a probe into a range of alleged violations

French prosecutors gave preliminary information in a press release on Monday about the investigation into Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was arrested suddenly on Saturday at Paris’ Le Bourget airport. Durov has not yet been charged with any crime, but officials said that he is being held as part of an investigation "against person unnamed" and can be held in police custody until Wednesday.

The investigation began on July 8 and involves wide-ranging charges related to alleged money laundering, violations related to import and export of encryption tools, refusal to cooperate with law enforcement, and “complicity” in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of child pornography and more.

The investigation was initiated by "Section J3" cybercrime prosecutors and has involved collaboration with France’s Centre for the Fight against Cybercrime (C3N) and Anti-Fraud National Office (ONAF), according to the press release. "It is within this procedural framework in which Pavel Durov was questioned by the investigators," Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau wrote in the statement.

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