Nine people were arrested on Tuesday, suspected of ticketing fraud to the detriment of the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Thursday. For the Parisian museum, the damage is estimated “at more than 10 million euros”.

Published on: 02/12/2026 - 7:07 p.m. Modified on: 02/13/2026 - 4:50 p.m.

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New case at the Louvre after the “heist of the century”. The Paris prosecutor's office indicated, Thursday February 12, that nine people were arrested on Tuesday, suspected of ticketing fraud to the detriment of the Parisian museum and the Palace of Versailles.

The prosecution estimates the damage "at more than 10 million euros", only for the Louvre.

Among the suspects arrested are two Louvre agents, tourist guides, as well as a person "suspected of having organized the network", further specifies the public prosecutor.

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The Louvre had already made headlines in the fall due to a spectacular heist that went around the world, with loot estimated at 88 million euros.

For ticketing fraud, at this stage of the investigations, justice has seized more than 957,000 euros in cash, as well as 486,000 euros in various bank accounts.

Real estate investments “in France and Dubai”

The suspects are suspected of having invested part of the proceeds of their fraud "in real estate, both in France and in Dubai", details the Paris prosecutor's office.

The arrests, revealed by the newspaper Le Parisien, took place within the framework of a rogatory commission and a judicial investigation carried out by two investigating judges of the Paris judicial court.

The investigation began with a complaint from the Louvre in December 2024, notifying the sub-directorate for the fight against irregular immigration about a couple of Chinese guides at the museum. The latter brought in groups of Chinese tourists “by defrauding the ticket office, the guides reusing the same tickets several times for different people”.

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Other guides were then suspected of "the same practices", points out the public prosecutor. A “monitoring” and “tapping” system confirmed the museum’s suspicions, particularly regarding the reuse of tickets on several occasions.

The investigations also led to "suspecting of accomplices within the Louvre", to whom "the guides could give cash, in exchange for not carrying out the checks", develops the Paris prosecutor's office.

The latter opened a judicial investigation on June 2, 2025 for "organized gang fraud", "organized gang money laundering", "active and passive public corruption", "aid for illegal entry and stay in an organized gang" and "use of administrative forgery".

With AFP

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