Nine people have been detained as part of a judicial investigation into a suspected decade-long ticket fraud scheme worth more than €10 million at the Louvre Museum in Paris, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office. The arrests were carried out on Tuesday following a complaint filed by the museum in December 2024.
Prosecutors said the alleged scheme caused financial losses to the museum exceeding €10 million over the past 10 years. A formal judicial investigation was opened in June last year into suspected organized fraud and related offences.
Those detained include two museum employees, several tour guides, and one individual suspected of acting as the operation’s mastermind. Authorities believe the network facilitated fraudulent museum entry for tour groups over an extended period.
The investigation began after the museum reported the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides suspected of escorting groups using repeatedly reused tickets. Additional guides were later suspected of employing similar tactics. According to prosecutors, surveillance operations and wiretaps confirmed repeated ticket reuse. Investigators also identified an alleged method of dividing tour groups to avoid paying the required “speaking fee” charged to guides operating inside the museum.
The probe further pointed to suspected internal accomplices. Prosecutors said some guides allegedly paid cash to museum staff in exchange for bypassing ticket inspections.
Authorities are investigating potential charges including organized fraud, money laundering, corruption, aiding illegal entry into the country as part of an organized group, and the use of forged administrative documents. Investigators believe the network may have brought as many as 20 tour groups per day into the museum over the past decade using fraudulent methods.
Suspects are believed to have invested proceeds from the scheme in real estate in France and Dubai. Authorities said they have seized more than €957,000 in cash, including €67,000 in foreign currency, along with €486,000 held in bank accounts. Prosecutors added that similar ticket fraud practices are suspected at the Palace of Versailles, though no further details were provided.
The investigation follows heightened scrutiny of museum security after an October robbery at the Louvre in which four individuals allegedly entered through a window during visiting hours and stole crown jewels valued at an estimated €88 million. Several suspects have been arrested in that case, but the stolen items have not been recovered.
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