365NEWS Reports that billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov was reportedly detained at Bourget Airport near Paris on Saturday evening, according to French news outlets TF1 and BFM TV.
Durov, who was arriving on his private jet from Azerbaijan, was arrested under a French warrant connected to a preliminary police investigation into Telegram’s alleged involvement in criminal activities, Reuters reports.
Telegram has not yet responded to requests for comment from Reuters, and the French Interior Ministry and police have also declined to comment.
TF1 reported that Durov was arrested at around 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) after arriving from Azerbaijan.
Bitcoinnews.com added that Durov, 39, was with a bodyguard and a woman at the time of his arrest by the Air Transport Gendarmerie. His arrest was carried out under a French search warrant issued by the OFMIN of the French judicial police, due to his inclusion on the wanted persons list.
The warrant was activated only upon Durov’s arrival in France. A source close to the investigation commented, “He made a blunder this evening. We don’t know why. Was this flight just a stopover? In any case, he’s in custody!”
Durov is being held by the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF). French authorities accuse Telegram of enabling crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking, and fraud. Another source close to the investigation claimed, “On his platform, he allowed countless offenses and crimes to be committed without taking steps to moderate or cooperate.”
Following the news, the price of toncoin (TON) dropped significantly, trading at $5.96, a 13% decrease from earlier in the day.
American commentator Tucker Carlson highlighted the irony of Durov’s situation, noting that while Durov fled Russia to escape government control over Telegram, he was ultimately detained by a Western country. Carlson tweeted, “Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram.
But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing free speech. It was a Western ally of the Biden administration that locked him away.
Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies.”
Atomic Wallet’s website referenced the Durov brothers’ involvement in TON, noting that they launched the GRAM project in 2018 to support Telegram’s users. Following a successful ICO raising $1.7 billion, the Ton network, previously known as Gram, was launched in 2019.
Telegram, headquartered in Dubai, was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after refusing to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform.
Durov, with an estimated net worth of $15.5 billion according to Forbes, has stated that Telegram aims to remain a neutral platform amid geopolitical pressures.
