Telegram CEO Pavel Durov abused his son, cut off his alimony, claims the mother of his three children

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was detained in France over allegations that he failed to prevent illegal activity on his social media app, faces accusations from the mother of his three children that he physically abused their youngest son, refused to support financially and led a secret double life.

Irina Bolgar, Durov’s alleged partner of 10 years and a lawyer by training, filed a complaint in Switzerland last year alleging that Durov hit their then-3-year-old son so hard that he “flew across the room,” according to Forbes.

Bolgar filed a separate complaint this year alleging that Durov cut off child support payments. A spokesman for prosecutors in Geneva said the investigation was ongoing, as the New York Times reported separately on Thursday.

Bolgar has since launched a social media campaign to back up her claims with “evidence.” Just last week, she shared about 10 posts on Instagram that included carousel slideshows of Durov with her and their children, along with sappy love songs and long captions bashing Durov.

The Russian billionaire, whose fortune is estimated at $15.5 billion according to Forbes, was arrested in August in Paris. He was subsequently charged with crimes related to claims that he failed to prevent drug trafficking, distributing child sexual abuse material and promoting terrorism through the invasion of Telegram, an encrypted messaging app.

This is the first case in which the main creator of the platform was held responsible for distributing illegal content through the platform.

Durov portrayed himself as a staunch supporter of freedom of speech who refused to forward Ukrainian users’ encrypted messages to the Kremlin. Some supporters – including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson – condemned the arrest as an attack on free speech.

“Durov’s carefully crafted image as a defender of freedom is crumbling in the face of his personal life,” Irina Bolgar, Durov’s alleged partner of 10 years, told The New York Times.

“It shows a stark contrast between his public declarations of freedom and his private actions,” said Bolgar, a trained lawyer in St. Petersburg.

Bolgar said she and Durov enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle – including stays at a 50-acre resort in Sardinia that cost $1 million a month, private plane trips to Paris, Italy and Monaco, and a beachfront penthouse in Dubai with its own elevator. .

Bolgar said she met Durov in 2012 in St. Petersburg. They bonded over their shared interest in yoga and their relationship became romantic during a trip to Dubai, she said.

They returned to Russia and stayed together at the W Hotel, then moved to an apartment near his company’s headquarters, she added.

In late 2013, Bolgar gave birth to his first child.

But Durov said their relationship was merely transactional, not romantic.

“SM. Bolgar, who was Mr. Durov’s yoga coach at the time, suggested to Mr. Durov that they have children together,” Durov’s spokesman told The New York Times in a statement. “He agreed, and three children were born.”

After Durov sold his shares in VKontakte – his first social media app, known as the Russian version of Facebook – and demanded that the Kremlin hand over encrypted data from its platforms, Durov fled the country.

But he returned a few months later with Bolgar.

“When we decided to go back to Russia, I asked him: ‘So you said you didn’t want to go back to Russia, but now you have the opposite intention.’ He said, “Why not go back to Russia?” – she told The New York Times.

Durov’s spokesman said he never hid his return to Russia.

Bolgar then became suspicious that Durov was leading a double life with a secret second family. He denied the claims when she asked in 2014 about news reports about a separate family.

But Bolgar said she discovered the truth when the couple’s personal driver delivered Christmas gifts for the older children in his separate family.

She claimed that Durov was obsessed with wealth and his public image.

He was considering staying at a $20,000-a-night hotel in Dubai because he “made tens of millions of easy money on Bitcoin,” he allegedly told her.

Bolgar said Durov asked his friend, who owns an agency representing swimsuit models, to post photos of him on social media.

He reportedly told Bolgar to “come see how people on the Forbes Rich List live” and even sent her a photo of him holding a rented lion.

Durov’s spokesman said the billionaire “is consistently critical of the extravagant lifestyles of the ultra-rich and advocates creation rather than consumption.”

Then in 2021, Durov became mentally and physically abusive – in April he hit his three-year-old son, then hit him again and shook him in November, according to court records.

The complaint says his son suffered a concussion, which left him with bedwetting and nightmares for several months.

Durov asked Bolgar to move to Dubai, but she refused due to concerns about regulations in the United Arab Emirates that could grant Durov custody of their children, she claims.

Bolgar threatened to report to the police in the fall of 2022 over Durov’s behavior and threatened to cut off financial support – which she claimed she did in November 2022.

In 2022, Durov said Bolgar was abusing credit cards linked to his bank accounts, spending money on luxury clothes and jewelry.

Their dispute made its way to social media, where Durov argued that he had had more than 100 children since he became a sperm donor.

“We must always remain responsible for our children,” Bolgar wrote on Instagram. “That’s the difference between a sperm donor and a parent.”

Durov’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.