Telegram CEO confirms leaving France amid criminal probe

The Russian-born founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram said he returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to a criminal investigation related to activity on the app.

Pavel Durov’s statement on Monday confirmed earlier media reports that a French judge had authorized him to leave the country for "several weeks."

“I want to thank the investigative judges for letting this happen, as well as my lawyers and team for their relentless efforts in demonstrating that when it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, Telegram has not only met but exceeded its legal obligations for years,” Durov said.

“The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home,” he added. Telegram moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2017, where Durov has also been living. He became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates in 2021, around the same time he was naturalized as a French citizen.

According to media reports citing an official at the Paris prosecutor’s office, the judicial order requiring Durov to remain in France during the probe into Telegram was suspended from March 15 to April 7.

Durov was arrested at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris in August and charged with several violations related to cyber and financial crimes committed on Telegram.

Following his arrest, Telegram stated that “it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for the abuse of that platform,” adding that the company “abides by EU laws” and that “its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.”

In a statement in October, Durov said, “Telegram was built to protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations. We do not allow criminals to abuse our platform or evade justice.”

Telegram, which reported reaching 950 million monthly active users last year, is a widely popular app, especially in Eastern Europe. Its social media-like architecture allows people to publish news, share videos and send geographic locations instantly.

However, its convenience is also frequently exploited by hackers and other threat actors to spread malicious files and disinformation. A recent report by a U.S. nonprofit legal advocacy organization claimed that Telegram is using a feature that serves some users extremist content.

Last September, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted two leaders of a white supremacist group that used Telegram to spread its ideology and coordinate activities.

Some cybercriminals use Telegram as a marketplace to sell hacking tools, while others exploit the app as a command-and-control server to exfiltrate stolen user data during attacks.