Ticket fraud cost the Louvre 10 million euros

French police have arrested nine people suspected in a Louvre ticket fraud scheme that cost the museum 10 million euros. Louvre employees and guides are among the suspects.

Among those arrested is also a person who is probably an organizer, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, Reuters reported.

An investigation into the case began in December 2024 when the museum became suspicious of two Chinese guides who were admitting groups of Chinese tourists to the museum using the same one-time ticket.

To avoid additional fees for the tour, they split the tour groups into smaller groups (surcharges for groups with a guide range from 20 to 90 euros, depending on the size of the group).

A little more than a year later, the police uncovered the entire network, whose members managed to serve up to 20 tour groups a day for the past decade.

The detained employees of the museum are suspected of being a They turned a blind eye to him instead of a certain reward and did not check the tickets.

The group invested the proceeds from this scheme in real estate in France and Dubai.

The police seized nearly a million euros in cash and 500,000 euros in bank deposits from the suspects.

According to the French prosecutor's office, the suspects carried out a similar scheme in the museums of Versailles.

From January 2026, individual tickets to the Louvre will cost €22 for EU residents and citizens, and €32 for everyone else. The price of a group ticket is 28 euros.

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Post author: travelnews.ge