Telegram founder had iPhone hacked in 2017 French spy operation a year
Paris-Le Bourget Airport, once Paris primary airport, now houses solely general aviation for private and business flights into the French capital, and where Telegram app CEO Pavel Durov was arrested by police on Saturday. (Credit: Reuters)
Billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was released from police custody Wednesday and transferred to an investigative judge, according to reports. The news follows a new report that his iPhone was hacked in 2017 in a joint operation by France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Durov, who was arrested in France on Saturday for allegedly failing to cooperate over cyber and financial crimes on Telegram, was released after a four-day French police interrogation ended, according to French news outlet Figaro and a Reuters judicial source.
The investigative judge will now rule on whether there is enough evidence to place the Russian-born billionaire under formal investigation following his arrest as part of the probe into organized crime on the messaging app. The decision is expected later on Wednesday. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or shelved.
Billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, left, had his iPhone hacked in 2017 in a joint operation by France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a Wall Street Journal report. The operation took place about a year before Durov met with French (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images, left, Bertrand GUAY / AFP, right, Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images, center. / Getty Images)
Earlier Wednesday, a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter claimed Durov had his phone hacked in a spy operation in 2017 that was code-named “Purple Music” and took place about a year before Durov met with French President Emmanuel Macron for lunch, where they discussed the Russian-born tech guru becoming a French citizen.
The lunch was part of a series of meetings the French leader had with tech entrepreneurs, a source close to Macron tells Reuters. Durov was granted citizenship from both France and the UAE in 2021 with the Gulf country investing more than $75 million into his platform that year.
The operation, according to the report, was sparked by concerns French security officials had about Islamic State’s use of Telegram to recruit operatives and plan attacks.
A former French intelligence official from France’s General Directorate for Internal Security told the outlet that compromising Telegram was a long-term effort of the country’s spy services, although the official didn’t comment on the alleged hacking operation against Durov.
It is unclear how long his phone was being hacked. Durov created the encrypted messaging service Telegram in 2013, which helped drive his net worth to around $15.5 billion, according to Forbes.
The French foreign ministry and the UAE…
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