The last online message from the founder of encrypted messaging Telegram leaves a bitter taste in hindsight. In this post dated August 14, Pavel Durov wishes a “happy birthday” to his company, a veritable goose that lays golden eggs, co-created with his brother Nikolaï eleven years ago and with 900 million users worldwide. He wishes to see her grow, like himself, “a little freer every day”. All illustrated with an emoji in the shape of a plane taking off.
The landing put a stop, at least temporarily, to this dear freedom. As revealed by TF1 and LCI, the billionaire entrepreneur was picked up when getting off his private jet and arrested on Saturday August 24 in the evening, as he set foot with his assistant and his bodyguard on the tarmac. du Bourget, for a dinner in Paris. He was still in police custody this Sunday, the Paris prosecutor's office confirms to Le Parisien.
An opaque application conducive to all excesses According to a source close to the matter, the 39-year-old entrepreneur was the subject of a “search warrant” issued by the French Office for Combating Violence Against Minors. According to the AFP, the judicial information entrusted to an investigating judge concerns in particular acts committed by an organized gang. The investigations are carried out by the National Cyber Unit (UNC) of the national gendarmerie and Onaf, the national anti-fraud office dependent on customs, where police custody takes place.
