Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France and detained by agents from the French National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF) on August 24th, according to a report by French news outlet TF1.
Durov was reportedly apprehended after traveling with a woman and his bodyguard from Azerbaijan to Le Bourget Airport in Paris, an airport exclusively serving private jets. The arrest was carried out under a search warrant issued by OFMIN, a French investigative body combating child exploitation, based on initial investigations, the report said.
The news outlet noted that billionaire Durov rarely travels in Europe, possibly to avoid such an arrest, as the warrant for his detention is only valid within French territory.
“He made a mistake tonight. We don’t know why. Was this flight just a stopover? Either way, he’s in custody,” a source reportedly told TF1, according to The Block.
Charges Against Durov
TF1 speculated that Durov might face an investigative judge on Saturday night before potential charges on Sunday for several offenses: terrorism, drugs, involvement in criminal activities, fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen goods, child pornography content, and possibly more.
“Pavel Durov will undoubtedly end up in pre-trial detention… With his platform, he has allowed many offenses and crimes to be committed, without taking any action to moderate or cooperate,” said an investigator from the French National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF), which placed Durov in custody.
Durov’s arrest has led to a sharp decline in the price of TON, the native cryptocurrency of the TON Network associated with Telegram, which dropped by more than 15% over the past 24 hours.
The price fell from $6.80 before the report emerged to its current level of $5.88, according to Coinmarketcap data.
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