PARIS (Reuters) – Russia-born billionaire and Telegram owner Pavel Durov was still being detained for questioning by French police on Monday, local news channel franceinfo reported, after he was arrested and taken into custody at the weekend.
“The police custody is continuing on Monday, …and may last up to four days”, the report said.
The Paris public prosecution office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. French authorities have not yet confirmed Durov’s arrest.
A police source told Reuters Durov was arrested at the weekend at a private jet airport close to Paris because he was the subject of an arrest warrant. A cybersecurity gendarmerie unit and the national anti-fraud police unit are leading the investigation, the source said.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” Telegram said in a statement on Sunday, adding: “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Geert De Clercq; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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