Pavel Durov, Telegram's Russian-born founder and CEO, said on March 17 that he had returned to Dubai after spending several months in France over an investigation into criminal activity on his messaging app.
The entrepreneur, who also holds French and Emirati citizenship, said that the investigating judges allowed him to depart even though the probe is ongoing.
Durov was arrested at the Le Bourget airport outside of Paris in August 2024 and faces numerous charges related to his social network, including allowing terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering, and child abuse content on Telegram. The founder of the messaging app faces up to 20 years in prison.
"As you may have heard, I’ve returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram," the businessman said on his personal Telegram channel.
"The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home."
Durov left France on March 15 after the judges allowed him to stay abroad for "several weeks," undisclosed sources told the AFP news agency.
Telegram is one of the world's top messaging apps, with over 950 million users worldwide.
Durov, with a net worth estimated at $15.5 billion, left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he subsequently sold.
An investigation by an independent Ukrainian group nevertheless revealed that Durov had visited Russia more than 60 times since 2014, contradicting the businessman's claims of being an exile and a pariah in his home country.
Kateryna Denisova
