According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, officials from the French Customs Anti-Fraud Office arrested the French-Russian billionaire on Saturday evening after he arrived at Bourget Airport on a flight from Azerbaijan.
Durov, 39, was wanted on a French arrest warrant because Telegram lacked moderation and the platform was therefore allegedly misused for money laundering, drug trafficking and the distribution of paedophile content.
According to BFMTV, the Telegram founder has not traveled regularly to France and Europe since the arrest warrant was issued.
In particular, France has issued an arrest warrant for Durov, accusing him of aiding and abetting drug trafficking, crimes against children and fraud, as Telegram lacks moderation and he does not cooperate with law enforcement, the Moscow Times reported, citing French local media.
The Russian-born founder of Telegram, which he says has over 900 million users, currently lives in Dubai. He became a French citizen in August 2021. Durov, who is also the founder of social network VKontakte, left Russia in 2014 after refusing to share VKontakte users’ data with Russian security services. Later, Russia unsuccessfully tried to block Telegram for refusing to provide users’ online communications to security services.Telegram is widely used by Russian-speaking people. It has become a major platform for sharing information about the war in Ukraine and is reportedly used by the Russian military for communication. (ANI)
