Telegram founder Pavel Durov.
A French court has formally indicted Telegram founder Pavel Durov, accusing him of complicity in a litany of offenses and barring him from leaving France until the case against him concludes.
Durov appeared before a magistrates’ court in Paris on Wednesday, four days after he was arrested upon arrival in the French capital from Azerbaijan. In a statement released on Wednesday night, the court said that Durov had been formally charged with a dozen offenses, including complicity in “administering an online platform” used by a criminal gang to conduct an illicit transaction, a charge that the court noted carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.
The Russian entrepreneur, who also holds the citizenship of France, the UAE, and St. Kitts and Nevis, was released on a €5 million ($5.55 million) bond.
