France releases Telegram CEO, but launches formal investigation against him

The case was also initiated against him for refusing to cooperate with the authorities, even after submitting requests for information and documents, in addition to the crime of money laundering.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccau confirmed all the charges in a statement and stressed that the investigation is ongoing. This process is necessary to reach a trial, although there is a chance that it will not get to that point if the authorities decide that the case is not strong enough.

Beccau also confirmed that the investigation into Durov began in February this year, as Telegram appeared in “multiple cases involving various crimes (child pornography, drug trafficking, online speech).

According to the investigation, which Politico had access to, a suspect told French authorities that Telegram was used to lure underage girls into sending him intimate photographs and then threatened to post the material on social media.

Investigators then sent a request to Telegram to identify the network responsible for this case, but the company ignored the request and it was then that the process began regarding its unwillingness to cooperate with the authorities in a criminal matter.

“It is completely absurd to claim that the head of a social media platform could be held responsible for criminal acts that do not involve him, either directly or indirectly,” said David-Olivier Kaminski, one of the lawyers working on Durov’s defence, according to Le Monde.

However, this argument does not answer questions about why the company ignored requests for information from French authorities, and why it made no mention of money laundering.

These are related to the fact that last month a new feature was added to Telegram based on a digital currency called Stars, with which digital content from other users can be purchased.

Stars can also be converted into Telegram’s cryptocurrency, Toncoin, which is used for various payment functions, or transferred to the app’s digital wallet, from where the money can be transferred to a bank account.