Nine people have been detained in connection with a suspected decade-long ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre, Paris prosecutors announced on Thursday. The alleged operation is believed to have defrauded the museum of more than €10 million (£8.7 million) over the past ten years.
The arrests, which took place on Tuesday, are part of a judicial investigation that began after the Louvre filed a formal complaint in December 2024. Among those taken into custody are two museum employees, several tour guides, and an individual suspected of being the mastermind behind the fraud.
The museum alerted investigators about the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors. Surveillance and wiretaps confirmed repeated ticket reuse and an apparent strategy of splitting up tour groups to avoid paying the required “speaking fee” imposed on guides. The investigation also pointed to suspected accomplices within the Louvre, with guides allegedly paying them cash in exchange for avoiding ticket checks.
A formal judicial investigation was opened in June last year on charges including organised fraud, money laundering, corruption, aiding illegal entry into the country as part of an organised group, and the use of forged administrative documents. Investigators believe the network may have brought in up to 20 tour groups a day over the past decade.
Suspects are believed to have invested some of the money in real estate in France and Dubai. Authorities have seized more than €957,000 in cash, including €67,000 in foreign currency, as well as €486,000 from bank accounts. The prosecutors’ office mentioned a similar ticket fraud is also suspected to have taken place at the Palace of Versailles, without providing further details.
