Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was formally investigated in France on Thursday on a wide range of criminal charges after being detained by police for four days.
He was also released from custody on condition that he not leave French territory during the investigation. Bail was set at 5 million euros (about $5.6 million) and he must appear at the police station twice a week.
On Tuesday, the Paris criminal court, the court handling the investigation, unsealed the indictment in the case that led to Durov's arrest after he disembarked from a private jet at Le Bourget airport in France on August 24.
The main charges are that he ran a company that conspired to store and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM), facilitated drug trafficking, and facilitated organized fraud and other illegal transactions. He also faces charges related to the registration of Telegram’s encryption feature, along with other criminal charges.
Paris prosecutor Laure Becouau said in a statement that all charges had been confirmed and that the investigation was ongoing. The fact that Durov is under formal investigation means that he is officially suspected of the charges against him.
In the French judicial system, a formal investigation is a procedural step necessary to bring a case to trial. However, it does not mean that a trial is certain. The investigation may be suspended before going to court if the authorities decide that there is not a sufficiently strong case. However, this step means that there is a reasonable ground to pursue the investigation.
The prosecutor's statement (translated from French) outlines why Durov is in police custody, with Bequout writing that Telegram “appears in several cases related to various crimes (child pornography, human trafficking, online hate speech).”
She also wrote that “the fact that Telegram has almost completely failed to respond to legal requests has been reported to the Cybercrime Unit (J3) of the National Court for Organized Crime (JUNALCO) of the Paris prosecutor's office, and in particular to the National Office for Minors (OFMIN).”
“Other French investigative departments and prosecutors’ offices, as well as various Eurojust partners, including Belgium in particular, shared the same observations when consulted. This led JUNALCO to open an investigation into the possible criminal responsibility of the executives of this messaging service for these crimes,” Beccuau added.
Then, in February 2024, the Paris court opened a preliminary investigation and appointed OFMIN as the head of the investigation. The Cybercrime Fighting Center (C3N) and the National Office Against Fraud (ONAF) later took over the investigation.
The account appears to confirm Politico’s report that Durov’s troubles began with a separate investigation focused on child sex abuse. According to a Politico reporter who had access to that investigative document, the suspect told investigators that he used Telegram to lure underage girls and send them “homemade child pornography.” They then threatened to release the CSAM on social media.
It also reported that as part of the case, French authorities sent Telegram a request to identify the suspect. However, the company ignored the request, which led to a preliminary investigation into its intention not to cooperate with law enforcement in the criminal case.
Telegram did not respond to a request for comment on Durov's arrest and the charges against him.
Lack of content review
The case against Telegram began as a CSAM investigation, but the preliminary investigation led to a more substantive case as French authorities began a broader investigation into the messaging app’s activities.
Telegram currently has 950 million monthly active users and has few moderation tools and processes in place. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Durov claimed that the social app only has 30 engineers working on it. So in addition to the company’s unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement, the Paris court is essentially claiming that Telegram’s (lack of moderation) allows CSAM, drug trafficking, and fraud to be shared on the platform.
According to Le Monde, David-Olivier Kaminski, a lawyer representing Durov, told local reporters on Wednesday night that “it is completely absurd to claim that a representative of a social platform can be held responsible for criminal acts that are not directly or indirectly related to him.”
But those defenses alone don’t explain why Telegram initially ignored law enforcement’s requests.
Additionally, Durov is also facing money laundering charges, possibly related to Telegram’s cryptocurrency-related features and failure to comply with “know your customer” requirements.
Telegram has a digital currency called Stars, which can be used to purchase digital content from other users. Stars can also be converted into Toncoin, a cryptocurrency supported by Telegram, which can be traded on various cryptocurrency exchanges and transferred to bank accounts.
The case is so extensive that the investigation is expected to take at least several months, and possibly a year or more. Durov is expected to remain in France during that time.
