After four days of detention, the 39-year-old billionaire Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, was brought before French justice today.
After being informed that he was officially under investigation for the alleged connection of the Telegram platform with organized crime, the judges decided to release him on bail, provided he posts a bail of 5 million euros.
Durov is also required to report to a police station twice a week and is banned from leaving France.
Pavel Durov – “the Russian Mark Zuckerberg”, as they call him – is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates.
His fortune is estimated at 15.5 billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine. Last April he said that some governments had sought to put pressure on him, but argued that his platform should remain “neutral” and not serve “geopolitical games”.
His brother is also targeted by the authorities
According to a French document cited in an article by Politico. Pavel’s brother, Nikolai, is also targeted by the authorities, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued.
The document shows that the French secret investigation into Telegram is broader and began months earlier than previously known.
The case revolves around Telegram’s refusal to cooperate with a French police investigation into child sexual abuse.
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