Police in France detained nine people as part of an investigation into a suspected decade-long Louvre ticket fraud scheme, Paris prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the detentions were carried out Tuesday and tied to a broader judicial investigation opened after the Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024.
Prosecutors said the losses to the museum over the past decade are estimated to exceed 10 million euros (about $11.8 million). They said those detained include two Louvre employees, several tour guides, and a person prosecutors described as suspected of masterminding the scheme.
In their account, prosecutors said the museum alerted investigators about the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides at the Louvre, whom they suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists into the museum by reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors. Prosecutors said other guides were later suspected of similar ticket reuse practices.
Prosecutors said investigators built the case using surveillance and wiretaps, which they said confirmed repeated ticket reuse and what they described as an apparent strategy of splitting tour groups to avoid paying the required “speaking fee” imposed on guides. Prosecutors also said the investigation pointed to suspected accomplices within the Louvre, with guides allegedly paying cash to those inside the museum in exchange for avoiding ticket checks.
Prosecutors said a formal judicial investigation was opened in June last year. They said the charges being pursued include organized fraud, money laundering, corruption, aiding illegal entry into the country as part of an organized group, and the use of forged administrative documents.
Authorities said investigators believe the network may have brought in up to 20 tour groups a day over the past decade. Prosecutors said suspects are believed to have invested some of the money in real estate in France and Dubai, and that authorities seized more than 957,000 euros (about $1.13 million) in cash, including 67,000 euros (about $79,459) in foreign currency, as well as 486,000 euros (about $576,374) from bank accounts.
Prosecutors also said a similar ticket fraud scheme is suspected to have taken place at the Palace of Versailles, though they did not provide further details. The Louvre’s investigation drew attention in the broader news cycle after another high-profile episode earlier this year: in October, a team of four people broke into the museum during visiting hours and stole crown jewels estimated at 88 million euros (about $104 million), authorities have said, and several suspects were arrested in that case as the stolen items remained missing.