Visitors may have passed through the Louvre's glass pyramid with valid tickets—but, prosecutors say, many of those tickets were being swiped again and again. French authorities have charged nine people, mostly Chinese nationals, with running a decade-long scam that allegedly cheated the Louvre out of more than $12 million. Investigators say tour guides shepherded roughly 20 Chinese tour groups a day through the museum using the same entry tickets multiple times, having paid off security staff to ignore the ruse, per the Wall Street Journal. Two Louvre employees are among those charged. Alleged crimes include fraud by organized gang, corruption, use of forged documents, and aggravated money laundering, per the New York Times.
Police, who opened the probe in December 2024 after a complaint from the museum, say they seized about $1 million in cash and another $500,000 from accounts, plus real-estate holdings in France and Dubai. One suspect remains in custody; the others were released under judicial supervision. The Louvre's general administrator referred to "difficulties in checking tickets that have been purchased online" during museum entry in a Friday interview, per the Times. A similar ticket fraud scheme may have also hit the Versailles Palace, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
The case lands as the world's most-visited museum faces broader scrutiny after a $100 million jewel theft last year exposed long-known security gaps. Labor strikes and water leaks have since disrupted operations. The Louvre only just revealed that a leaking heating supply pipe damaged a 19th-century ceiling painting. Meanwhile, staff argue President Emmanuel Macron's $700 million "New Renaissance" renovation plan overlooks the museum's most urgent needs. Unions contend "the project highlights a fixation on blockbuster attractions while staffing shortages, infrastructure decay and security gaps persist," the AP reported in December.
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