Ticket Scam Cost the Louvre $12 Million, Investigators Say

Louvre officials first suspected a pair of tour guides of reusing tickets in late 2024. The Paris prosecutor’s office said investigators then uncovered a network that it estimated cost the museum nearly $12 million over a decade, involving bribes, tickets reused multiple times and groups split up to avoid extra fees.

Nine people were arrested last week, including two museum employees. Investigators have seized more than $1 million in cash and over $500,000 from bank accounts, and the suspects face charges such as fraud committed by an organized gang, use of forged documents, corruption and aggravated money laundering; one suspect is in pretrial detention and eight have been released under strict conditions.

The Louvre said it was encountering “an increase and diversification of ticket fraud” and that management was working with police to better identify and prevent it.

France, Paris

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