Foreign tour guides and staff members who were paid to remain silent orchestrated a counterfeit ticketing ring that robbed the Louvre of millions over more than a decade, according to Parisian prosecutors.
At least nine people were arrested this month as part of a year-long investigation into the alleged multinational fraud network, months after the Louvre also fell victim to a separate brazen daylight jewellery heist that stunned the world.
Here is what is known about how suspected ticket scammers allegedly infiltrated the world's most visited museum.
Sting uncovers reused tickets and internal bribes
The Louvre first flagged a suspected case of ticket fraud at the museum in December 2024.
Two Chinese tour guides were then accused of facilitating the entry of multiple groups of Chinese tourists by reusing single-entry tickets for different people in a bid to avoid paying admission and speaking fees.
French police and the Paris prosecutors' office said recently that an investigation was launched in June 2025 after a year of compliance checks that included the use of surveillance techniques and wire taps.
Authorities were tasked with investigating allegations of organised fraud, money laundering, corruption, the aiding of illegal entry into France as part of an organised group, and the use of forged administrative documents.
Those checks confirmed repeated ticket reuse by various tour guides who split groups of tourists up and paid cash to suspected accomplices working within the Louvre to avoid detection, prosecutors alleged.
Investigators also alleged up to 20 groups of tourists were admitted and moved through the museum each day over more than 10 years.
The estimated losses for the museum were expected to exceed 10 million euros ($16.75 million), prosecutors said.
[DW Louvre]A spokesperson for the Louvre told Reuters the museum had since drawn up plans to prevent further fraud.
"The Louvre Museum is facing a resurgence and diversification of ticket fraud," a statement said.
The nine arrests in Paris included two employees of the Louvre, several other tour guides and one person who was described by prosecutors as the ring's mastermind.
The prosecutors' office said the same ring allegedly operated a similar scheme at the Palace of Versailles, but authorities did not provide further details.
Cash and vehicles seized in police raids
Police said more than 957,000 euros ($1.6 million) in cash, stashes of foreign currency worth at least 67,000 euros ($112,247) and 486,000 euros ($814,244) deposited in bank accounts were seized during the arrests.
Authorities said some of the suspects were believed to have invested some of the money into real estate assets across France and in Dubai.
Three vehicles and several other bank safe deposit boxes were seized in the raids, according to a report by the Le Parisien newspaper.
The dismantling of the alleged fraud ring adds to a spate of recent setbacks for the museum, including the high-profile theft of an estimated 88 million euros ($149 million) in French crown jewels in October.
A month after intruders used a crane to break into the Louvre's Apollo Gallery to steal eight historical pieces of jewellery, the museum announced it would raise ticket prices by 45 per cent for most non–European Union tourists to help finance renovations.
The change meant visitors from outside the EU or the European Economic Area — which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — would have to pay 32 euros ($53) from January 14, while visitors from the United Kingdom would be subject to a higher entry fee.
On Thursday, the Louvre's Denon gallery — where its most valuable paintings are displayed — was hit by a water leak.
The area housing Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was unaffected, a Louvre spokesperson said.
The leak happened in room 707, where paintings from 19th-century French artist Charles Meynier and 16th-century Italian artist Bernardino Luini were displayed.
A ceiling painted by Meynier experienced some damage, the spokesperson said.
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