Pavel Durov Arrested in for Crypto Crimes

 
Ritu Lavania
Written By 
Ritu Lavania
August 27, 2024

After French authorities came under fire from the crypto community and free speech absolutists including Elon Musk and others, the government said Pavel Durov has been arrested for cybercrime investigation involving allegations of providing “cryptology” services and tools.

A statement released by the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris on Monday, said that Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of instant messaging and platform Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport in the outskirts of Paris on Saturday, the 24th of August 2024 and was then taken into police custody at 8 pm.

It further clarified, “This measure comes in the context of a judicial investigation opened the 8th of July 2024, following a preliminary inquiry initiated by Section J3 – JUNALCO (Fight against Cybercrime) of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.”

The statement claimed that judicial investigation was started against person unnamed, “on charges of … providing cryptology services aiming to ensure confidentiality without certified declaration, providing a cryptology tool not solely ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration, [and] importing a cryptology tool ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration.”

Not just this, but other charges listed against Durov included complicity in “possessing pornographic images of minors” and “laundering of the proceeds derived from organized group’s offences and crimes.”

The statement revealed that Durov’s investigation can be held until August 28.

President Emmanuel Macron, also took to X and claimed, “The arrest of Telegram’s president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide”.

The Durov has found from Elon Musk, Balaji Srinivasan, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, TRON founder Justin Sun.

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Ritu Lavania
Written by Ritu Lavania

Ritu Lavania is a versatile Web3 content creator with over three years of experience in the crypto space. She is part of the team at CryptoNewsZ, where she writes insightful and engaging content. She has also contributed to TheCryptoTimes and The Coin Edition, where her work has been well received by the crypto community. Skilled in research, creative writing, SEO, and cross-functional collaboration, she creates content tailored to diverse audiences. ionate about education, she dedicates time to teaching kids and expressing herself through poetry. Always eager to learn, she continuously explores new trends in blockchain and digital assets. She believes in the power of storytelling to make complex crypto topics more accessible and engaging for readers worldwide.