A decade-long fraud racket of fake tickets was exposed to have cost the Louvre museum more than €10 million in lost revenue.
The widespread scandal has led to the arrest of 9 people, including museum officials and tour guides. One of the arrested persons is suspected to be the mastermind behind the scheme, though the details haven’t been made public. However, the prosecutor’s office confirmed on Thursday that someone from the Palace of Versailles was also involved in the scheme.
The investigation started in December 2024 after the Louvre shared its suspicions about some Chinese guides reusing the same tickets to bring Chinese visitors to the museum. This prompted the Paris police to investigate CCTV footage and put up their own surveillance. In June 2025, the prosecutor’s office ordered a judicial investigation into the same.
The investigation found a well-oiled ring that reused the same tickets to bring visitors over and above the museum’s capacity. Museum officials facilitated the scheme. The fraud goes back a decade and is estimated to have cost the museum over €10 million. The police raids recovered €957,000 in cash, €67,000 in foreign currency, and €486,000 in separate bank accounts of the accused. It was also revealed that the accused are suspected of investing in real estate within France and in Dubai with the stolen money.
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The prosecutor’s office has levied the charges of “organized fraud, organized money laundering, active and passive public corruption, aiding and abetting illegal entry and residence in an organized group, and use of forged administrative documents”.
