Russian billionaire Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in Paris

The Russian billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, was arrested on Saturday evening upon arrival at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, according to French TV channel TF1.

The 39-year-old businessman, who has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was reportedly met by police officers at around 8pm on Saturday after flying to the French capital on his private jet from Azerbaijan.

According to the French authorities, Durov, who is estimated to be worth €13.9 billion by Forbes, is being charged as an accomplice to crimes including drug trafficking, fraud, terrorism and crimes against children over Telegram’s alleged “lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement”, as well for Telegram’s use of disposable numbers, and for allowing cryptocurrency transfers that cannot be monitored by the authorities.

The arrest has surprised many, as Durov had long proven himself to be a canny operator in terms of ensuring his personal safety, leaving Russia in 2014 when he refused demands by Russian intelligence services to censor the VK social media platform, which he owned at the time. Since 2017, Durov and Telegram have been based in Dubai.

Durov was reportedly aware that an arrest warrant had been issued for him and had avoided visiting Europe as a result. “Tonight he made a mistake. We don’t know why,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told TF1.

News of Durov’s arrest saw his TON cryptocurrency lose 12% of its value overnight. TON, or Toncoin, is a decentralised Tier 1 blockchain that emerged in 2018. While it was originally developed by the Telegram team, it has been maintained by the open source community since 2020.

In September 2023, the Telegram team announced the launch of an official cryptocurrency wallet where TON digital currency can be exchanged.

Neither Durov nor Telegram has either confirmed his arrest or commented on it. However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Sunday that Russian diplomats in Paris were working to learn more about Durov’s arrest.