French officials claim that the arrest of the CEO of Telegram is related to a crime investigation into unapproved “cryptology” services

• In a statement, French police announced that Telegram CEO Pavel Durov had been taken into custody following a thorough criminal investigation, which involved claims that he had supplied tools and services related to “cryptology.”
• During the weekend, Durov was taken into custody at the Paris airport.
• Telegram chat software is well-liked by cryptocurrency users and supporters.

Following the issuance of a statement by French authorities on Monday, the reasons behind the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov have become more apparent.

According to a statement made by the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris, Durov was arrested as part of a broad cybercrime investigation that included claims of supplying “cryptology” services and tools.

“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, then taken into police custody at 8 p.m.,” the statement reads. “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 continued by stating that a “judicial investigation was opened 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.”

Complicity in “possessing pornographic images of minors” and “laundering of the proceeds derived from organized group’s offences and crimes” were among the other alleged allegations that were highlighted.

As per the press statement, Durov may be detained until August 28 as he answers questions related to the cybercrime probe.

Several prominent players in the cryptocurrency space have endorsed Durov, including Justin Sun of TRON, Elon Musk, Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum (who stated that his opinion was based on material provided thus far), and Anatoly Yakovenko of Solana.

Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.