Telegram founder faces probe into alleged ‘acts of violence’ against his child in Switzerland

By Antonella Francini, Emmanuel Miculita, Anna Chernova and Zahid Mahmood, CNN

(CNN) — French prosecutors told CNN they have requested more information from Switzerland over allegations that Telegram founder Pavel Durov conducted “acts of violence” against one of his children.

Irina Bolgar, the former partner of the Russian-born billionaire and the child’s mother, made the claims against Durov. She filed a legal complaint in a court in Geneva, Switzerland, in March 2023.

Bolgar told CNN she had a relationship with Durov between early 2013 and 2022 and that they had three children together. She and the children now live in Switzerland. “Despite the fact that the marriage was not registered, the children were officially recognized and bear the father’s last name,” she wrote on Instagram.

In a legal complaint seen by CNN, the Swiss court in Geneva said Durov’s former partner filed a complaint for alleged violence against one of their three children. CNN has reached out to Durov’s lawyers about the allegations and court case, but they declined to comment.

The ongoing case alleges that Durov harmed his youngest son five times between 2021 and 2022. In one instance, he allegedly threatened “that he would kill him,” the complaint says.

Durov, 39, was arrested at Paris’s Bourget Airport on Saturday on a warrant related to Telegram’s lack of moderation as the platform comes under scrutiny for its use by terrorist groups and far-right extremists.

The entrepreneur has found himself at the center of a media storm as he was placed under formal investigation for several offenses related to criminal activity on the messaging platform he founded. He was released from custody on Wednesday and must remain in France under judicial supervision, with a bail set at $5.56 million (5 million euros).

‘Shed some light’

According to the Swiss complaint against Durov, after the alleged incidents, the child had been in an “anxious state,” had “regular sleep troubles,” “enuresis” (the medical term for bedwetting), and nightmares.

Bolgar claims in the complaint that at the end of 2018 the couple had separated and Durov committed in writing that he was willing to contribute 150,000 Euros a month towards the maintenance of her and her children.

“He gave the named two bank cards, allowing her to withdraw the said sum from his personal accounts,” the complaint says.

The complaint adds that Durov had not seen his children since September 2022 and that he was not taking care of them and had “blocked” the bank cards he had given her.

In an Instagram post from July 30, Bolgar said she met Durov in 2012 and had been living together as a “fully-fledged family” since 2013 in St. Petersburg where their three children were born. Bolgar also said that since 2020 she and her children had been living in Switzerland.

“While living in different countries, my relationship with Pavel remained family-like,” she wrote in the Instagram post.

Bolgar also said that they “remained a couple” and Durov used to visit her and the children in Switzerland with his mother and brother.

She added that she did not publicize the information about her family to avoid deliberately bringing attention to herself or her children. But changed her mind because her children had been asking why there was no information about them on the internet, “unlike their father’s two older children,” she said.

“I decided to shed some light on this information,” Bolgar said.

Durov’s arrest started a row over freedom of speech, and caused particular concerns in both Ukraine and Russia, where it is extremely popular and has become a key communication tool among military personnel and citizens during Moscow’s war on its neighbor.

‘Independent action’

French President Emmanuel Macron has told reporters that he “knew absolutely nothing” about Durov’s travels to France and his arrest was an “independent action” taken by the country’s justice system.

The French leader told a scheduled press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, that he was not scheduled to meet Durov “at the end of last week or the days after” and stressed that Durov’s arrest was an “independent action taken by the French justice system.”

Macron also defended his decision to grant French nationality to Durov in 2021, commending that the entrepreneur “had made the effort to learn the French language.”

Durov’s naturalization came about as part of a French government initiative that allows individuals who “shine in the world” and “make the effort to learn the French language” to apply for French nationality. Macron ultimately defended the scheme, calling it a “great thing for our country.”

Durov was born in the Soviet Union in 1984, and in his 20s became colloquially known as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.” He left the country in 2014 and now lives in Dubai, where Telegram is headquartered, while also holding French citizenship.

He is worth an estimated $9.15 billion, according to Bloomberg, and has maintained a lavish, globe-trotting lifestyle over the past decade.

But while his app has won plaudits from free speech groups and enabled private communication in countries with restrictive regimes, critics say it has become a safe haven for people coordinating illicit activities – including the terrorists who planned the Paris terror attacks in November 2015.

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With reporting from CNN’s Niamh Kennedy