Ticket fraud at the Louvre: nine people arrested in France
16 February 07:19
French prosecutors investigating a suspected decade-long ticket fraud scheme worth €10 million at the Louvre Museum have arrested nine people, including two employees.
This was reported by the Associated Press, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the prosecutor’s office, the arrests were made as part of a judicial investigation launched after the Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024.
The museum’s losses over the past decade exceed €10 million. According to the prosecutor’s office, those arrested include two Louvre employees, several tour guides, and one woman who is suspected of being the organizer.
The museum alerted investigators to the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides who were suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists to the museum, fraudulently using the same tickets several times for different visitors. Other guides were later suspected of similar practices.
Investigators are trying to determine whether this organization could have brought up to 20 tour groups a day over the past decade.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said surveillance and wiretapping confirmed the multiple use of tickets and a strategy of splitting tourist groups to avoid paying the mandatory “tour fee” charged to guides.
The investigation also pointed to suspected accomplices at the Louvre, whom the guides allegedly paid in cash in exchange for avoiding ticket checks.
About the investigation
In June last year, a formal judicial investigation was launched on charges including organized fraud, money laundering, corruption, facilitating illegal entry into the country as part of an organized group, and using forged administrative documents.
According to the Associated Press, the suspects likely invested some of the money in real estate in France and Dubai. Authorities seized more than €957,000 in cash, including €67,000 in foreign currency, as well as €486,000 from bank accounts.
The prosecutor’s office said that similar ticket fraud is also suspected at the Palace of Versailles, but did not provide further details.
About the Louvre robbery
The Louvre was robbed on the morning of October 19. It happened in the Apollo Gallery. Criminals dressed in yellow vests broke the display cases and stole nine jewels from Napoleon’s collection, including Empress Marie-Louise’s diamond and emerald necklace, the diadems of Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and the pearl and diamond tiara of Empress Eugénie. The value of the stolen items is estimated at €88 million.
Some of the artifacts, including Empress Eugénie’s crown, were found outside the museum. The whereabouts of the rest of the items are unknown.
The robbery drew attention to the security of the Louvre. It took the thieves less than eight minutes to break into the museum. They left by taking the freight elevator, where scooter drivers were waiting for them and quickly drove them away.
The police have already arrested all four suspects in the robbery. The new information increases pressure on the Louvre’s management, as the French parliament is conducting a separate investigation and museum employees are preparing to strike due to staff shortages and overload.
