"For the Louvre, the world's most visited museum, it is "statistically inevitable" that fraud would come up at some point, the museum's No. 2 said in the wake of a decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) suspected ticket-fraud scheme revealed last week. Kim Pham, the Louvre's general administrator, told The Associated Press that the museum's unique scale makes it particularly vulnerable. However, pressed to name other institutions with similar problems, he declined to single out peers."
"Last week, Paris prosecutors said that nine people were being detained in connection to the ticket scheme. The nine have been formally charged and brought before investigating judges. Among the suspects are two Chinese tour guides accused of bringing groups of tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors, allegedly with the help of Louvre employees."
"The Louvre had filed a complaint back in December 2024, prosecutors said. Investigators estimate losses of more than 10 million euros ($11.8 million) over a decade, with the alleged criminal network suspected of bringing in up to 20 guided groups a day. Prosecutors said that along with repeatedly reusing tickets, the tour guides sometimes split groups to avoid paying a required "speaking fee" - a sort of commission paid to the museum to allow them to operate."
The Louvre uncovered a suspected decade-long ticket-fraud scheme that investigators estimate cost more than 10 million euros. Paris prosecutors have detained and formally charged nine people linked to the scheme, including two Chinese tour guides accused of repeatedly reusing the same tickets for different visitors with alleged assistance from Louvre employees. Prosecutors say tour guides sometimes split groups to avoid paying a required "speaking fee" charged by the museum. The Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024 and the judicial investigation is ongoing. The museum's large scale—86,000 square meters, 35,000 artworks, and about 9 million annual visitors—heightens vulnerability to fraud.
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