Major WhatsApp competitor’s CEO arrested

French authorities have detained Russian-born Pavel Durov, the chief executive officer of the Telegram messaging service, according to a statement from the Russian Embassy in Paris.

After media reports of the detention, “we immediately asked the French authorities for an explanation of the reasons and demanded that they ensure the protection of his rights and provide consular access” to Durov, the statement on the embassy’s Telegram account said.

“As of today, the French side has so far avoided interacting on this issue,” it said.

Embassy officials are in touch with Durov’s lawyer, according to the statement.

Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport on Saturday for alleged offenses related to the messaging app, Agence France-Presse reported earlier, citing officials it didn’t identify.

The 39-year-old billionaire is suspected of failing to take steps to prevent criminal use of Telegram, AFP said, adding he’s expected to appear in court on Sunday.

Durov lives in Dubai and is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Telegram website. Durov has not previously commented on whether he renounced his Russian citizenship.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had no comment at this stage, in line with “procedures followed during an investigation.”

The Paris police, president of the city’s court, Telegram and the UAE Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to messages seeking comment outside of regular business hours.

France’s Ofmin, an agency set up to combat violence against minors, issued an arrest warrant for Durov, AFP said. Ofmin is the coordinating agency in a preliminary probe into alleged offenses such as fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism, according to AFP.

Following reports of Durov’s arrest, Toncoin — a cryptocurrency linked to Telegram — sank as much as 23%.

Telegram was created by Durov and his brother Nikolai, a programmer and mathematician. It has about 900 million active users and is one of the most popular messaging apps globally.

Its relatively light-touch approach to content moderation has led to allegations that it’s frequently used for criminal activity and extremist material.

The Durov brothers made their fortune from creating the Russia-based social network VKontakte in 2006. That platform quickly became popular among Russians, making it a target for a billionaire with ties to the Kremlin.

Durov fled the country in 2014 and sold his stake in VKontakte. He has a net worth of over $9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In an April interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Durov discussed the pressure he faced from Russian authorities while running VKontakte as well as the scrutiny that Telegram has received from law enforcement agencies around the world.

“I would rather be free, I wouldn’t want to take orders from anyone,” Durov said during the interview.