Ticket fraud in the largest art museum. Even employees were involved
A unique Parisian museum known around the world is facing further problems. The recent thefts of valuable jewels are not all the losses that have been reported. Ticket fraud was also detected.
A practice that had been going on in the Louvre for a long time came to light. Museum employees and Chinese guides took part in the ticket fraud. While tourists saved money, the institution lost a lot of money. On Tuesday, February 10, nine suspects were arrested.
Ticket fraud at the Louvre
A spokesman for the Louvre in an interview with AFP revealed that there are many indications that there is a large network of ticket sales fraudsters on a large scale. One of the methods was to do this: Groups of foreign tourists from China were admitted to the museum many times with the same tickets. Such teams of travelers were found by guides. They offered them entry to the gallery and sold them tickets that should no longer be valid.
The second thing was to be, among others, payment by guides to Louvre employees avoiding ticket inspections and turning a blind eye to irregularities. There was also dividing groups of tourists in order to avoid paying the conference allowance imposed on guides.
Instead of getting rich from new customers, the Louvre only lost money. It is estimated that over the last decade, up to 20 groups of tourists a day were brought in with old tickets. The prosecutor’s office referred to the suspicion of a similar ticket fraud at the Palace of Versailles, but without providing details.
Even EUR 10 million in the red
The current investigation has shown that the museum’s losses due to this practice amount to up to EUR 10 million. It must be admitted that combining them with the recent ones related to thefts and flooding of some rooms, this is a tragic result. Many people still vividly remember the daring robbery in the Apollona Gallery. During it, the French lost many valuable specimens, and one of the recovered ones was completely devastated.
The result of the ticket fraud is surprising. The Associated Press reported that the suspects probably invested some of the money they earned in real estate in France and Dubai. So far, over 957,000 have been confiscated. euro in cash, including PLN 67,000 euro in foreign currencies and 486 thousand euros from bank accounts.
