The founder of Telegram may face fraud, money laundering, terrorism and other related charges in France
According to French news website TF1, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested in France and detained by agents of the French National Anti-Fraud Office.
Durov was arrested after traveling with a woman and his bodyguard from Azerbaijan to Paris's Bourget airport, which specializes in private jets. According to the report, according to the preliminary investigation, France's investigative agency against child sexual exploitation, OFMIN, issued a search warrant for him.
Coverage notes that Durov usually rarely travels in Europe, perhaps to avoid being detained in this way, as the news site notes that his arrest warrant is only valid on French soil.
TF1 predicted that Mr. Durov could see an investigating judge on Saturday night and could be charged on Sunday with "... multiple offenses: terrorism, drugs, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen property, criminal content with children," and possibly more.
An investigator at France's National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF), who took Durov into custody, said: "Pavel Durov will end up in pre-trial detention, that's for sure... countless crimes have been allowed on his platform, and he has done nothing to mitigate or co-operate with it."