The Franco-Russian billionaire is particularly suspected of complicity in offences and crimes organised on the platform, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday evening.
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![Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, California, on September 21, 2015. (STEVE JENNINGS / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/pictures/DdApn10gZI-0GPXvoPe_gmiPzhQ/0x0:1024x575/432x243/2024/08/25/000-36en9kh-66cb51c4dc4a1987068574.jpg)
Telegram boss Pavel Durov, whose police custody has been extended until Wednesday, August 28, is being questioned for twelve offences relating to organised crime, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday evening, August 26. The courts are accusing Pavel Durov in particular of not taking action against the criminal use of his messaging service by his subscribers, in particular through a lack of moderation and collaboration with investigators.
In detail, the 39-year-old Franco-Russian billionaire was taken into custody as part of a judicial investigation opened, after a preliminary inquiry, by the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco), on July 8 and relating to twelve offenses, detailed in a press release the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
The offences targeted include, among other things, the administration of an online platform to enable an illicit transaction by an organised gang, the refusal to communicate the information necessary for interceptions authorised by law, complicity in offences and crimes organised on the platform (drug trafficking, child pornography, fraud and money laundering by an organised gang) and the provision of cryptology services aimed at ensuring confidentiality functions without a proper declaration.
The investigating judges in charge of this case have entrusted the investigations to the center for the fight against digital crime (C3N) and the national anti-fraud office (Onaf).