Pavel Durov The founder and CEO of Telegram was arrested early this morning at Le Bourget airport in the suburbs of Paris, and if convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
According to the IANS report, citing various sources, the French government has brought various charges against Durov; Among them, the lack of supervision and lack of cooperation with law enforcement and the provision of features such as cryptography and temporary numbers, which, according to the French government, turn Telegram, with 900 million users, into a tool for drug trafficking, child abuse and fraud.
The 39-year-old founder and CEO of Telegram lives in Dubai, but also has French citizenship. An entrepreneur with a net worth of at least $15.5 billion, he fled Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with Russian government demands to block dissenting views on the VK social network.
Durov is currently the 120th richest person in the world. In 2022, Forbes magazine named him as the richest foreigner in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2018, Russia attempted to block the popular messenger after Telegram refused to cooperate with the country’s security services. Currently, the Russian Embassy in France is taking “urgent measures” to clarify the situation.
