A Paris court has indicted Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov on six counts, including refusal to hand over information to the competent authorities. The police had previously questioned him on 12 counts. After the indictment, the court placed the businessman under judicial supervision with a bail of €5 million and an obligation to appear before the police twice a week, the Paris prosecutor's office said. He is banned from leaving French territory.
Pavel Durov has been charged:
In refusing to hand over information or documents to the competent authorities upon request.
In providing cryptography services for privacy without a certified declaration.
In complicity in web mastering an online platform for the purpose of carrying out illegal transactions in an organized group.
In complicity in the possession of materials of a pornographic nature, including with minors.
Complicity in the acquisition, transport, storage and sale of narcotic substances.
Complicity in organized fraud.
Regarding the count of complicity ‘in web mastering an online platform for the purpose of carrying out illegal transactions’, a press release from the prosecutor's office notes that the maximum penalty for this offence is 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of €500,000.
The press release also reports that Telegram's administration has for a long time barely responded to requests from OFMIN's Juvenile Defense Service. ‘Other French investigative services and prosecutors‘ offices, as well as various Eurojust partners, notably the Belgian ones, have come to the same conclusion,’ the press release said about Telegram's non-cooperation.
The JUNALCO cybercrime unit then launched an investigation into ‘the possible criminal liability of the managers of this service’ in February 2024. The JUNALCO judicial investigation began on 8 July 2024. It was entrusted to the gendarmerie's cybercrime unit C3N and the National Customs fraud service ONAF. Pavel Durov was detained on 24 August when his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport near Paris.
Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov has left the Paris court building in a private car. According to the court's decision, he had to post bail in the amount of €5 million. He is forbidden to leave the territory of France. He is obliged to appear twice in police stations every week.
French Media news agency has published a video taken near the courthouse, which allegedly shows Pavel Durov. The video shows Mr Durov, wearing a cap and sunglasses, talking to a man in a suit, after which the businessman, accompanied by several people, gets into a black minivan and drives away from the courthouse.
Pavel Durov was detained on 24 August upon arrival in Paris on a private jet. On 26 August, the prosecutor's office issued a press release stating that the businessman had been questioned on 12 counts of charges. Today he was brought before an investigating judge who charged him with 6 of the 12 counts.
Pavel Durov was accused of administering an online platform for the purpose of making illegal transactions; refusing to hand over encryption keys when requested by police; complicity in the distribution of child porn, drugs and fraud. All of the offences were committed by a group of individuals and are therefore considered serious. They carry ten-year prison sentences and thousands of dollars in fines.
