Louvre Museum in Paris Humiliated by Ticket Fraud Scandal
Managing Director: "Inevitable for a Museum of This Scale"
Suspects Pocketed 17.1 Billion Won by Inflating Ticket Prices
After a large-scale ticket fraud case was uncovered at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, the museum argued that it was "statistically inevitable."
According to Yonhap News on February 18 (local time), Kim Pham, the Louvre's managing director, said in an interview with the Associated Press, "Wouldn't any museum in the world that receives this many visitors occasionally experience some fraud problems?" The Louvre Museum, one of Paris's most iconic tourist attractions, welcomes about 9 million visitors a year.
Pham, who oversees the museum's administration and internal management, acknowledged flaws in the security system but added, "The Louvre Museum began to take shape in the early 13th century and has accumulated countless historical layers up to the 20th century," noting that "it is only natural for difficulties to arise in such a complex structure." She continued, "I would not claim that we have done everything perfectly," adding, "Fraud prevention is an ongoing effort."
On February 10, the French investigative authorities announced that they had arrested a total of nine people, including two Louvre employees and two Chinese tour guides, in connection with allegations of fake ticket sales and overbooking of guided tours.
Their fraudulent activities mainly targeted Chinese tourists. The Chinese guides reportedly used one-day tickets up to 20 times a day to admit multiple tour groups into the museum, then charged them inflated prices above the regular admission fee and pocketed the difference by bypassing the ticket office. In addition, when leading guided tours for groups above a certain size, they were supposed to pay a fee to the museum, but they allegedly avoided this by splitting the groups. During this process, they were found to have paid bribes to employees in exchange for assistance.
The prosecution stated that it launched a long-term investigation into the suspects at the museum's request in late 2024 and subsequently arrested them. Authorities seized three vehicles, 957,000 euros in cash (about 1.6 billion won), and 486,000 euros (about 800 million won) deposited in bank accounts. The suspects are also believed to have carried out similar scams at another tourist site, the Palace of Versailles.
Prosecutors believe their crimes continued for about 10 years and estimate the total damage at more than 10 million euros (about 1.71 billion won). The suspects are thought to have invested the money they accumulated in real estate in France and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Meanwhile, the Louvre Museum has been hit by a series of setbacks following the theft of royal jewels in October last year. After serious flaws in its internal security system were laid bare, additional problems such as water damage and ticket fraud have further tarnished its reputation.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
