Paris court explains why it’s arrested Telegram founder, Pavel Durov
Telegram's founder Durov, arrested in France, faces charges linked to drug trafficking, money laundering, and lack of cooperation with law enforcement.
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested on August 24 by French authorities, prompting widespread attention and speculation. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a preliminary investigation on July 8, leading to 12 charges, including complicity in storing and distributing CSAM content, facilitating drug trafficking, and failing to cooperate with law enforcement requests for information or documents.
Additional charges involve Telegram’s cryptographic features that haven't been certified by French authorities, and accusations of participating in a criminal association and money laundering. The charges are linked to Telegram’s moderation processes, with the platform having 950 million monthly active users and only 30 engineers working on it. The introduction of a digital currency called Stars and its potential misuse for money laundering were also highlighted.
French President Emmanuel Macron denied accusations of political motivations, reaffirming the independence of the judiciary. The court is expected to decide within 96 hours whether to indict Durov or release him depending on the risk of him fleeing the country. The investigation involves the Centre for the Fight against Cybercrime (C3N) and the Anti-Fraud National Office (ONAF).