Louvre official comments on alleged ticket-fraud scheme, says it's an 'inevitable risk'

Описание: (17 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris, France - 16 February 2026
1. Various of Louvre Museum's exterior
2. Wide of Kim Pham, Louvre General Administrator, walking through the Louvre exterior corridor
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Kim Pham, Louvre General Administrator:
"The complexity of the Louvre means that we have entrances in front of the different wings under the pyramid. In order to move from one wing to another, the ticket must be usable multiple times. We have limited it to two times, and only once for groups recently, we've tightened this. But this is related to the architecture and topography of the museum. This has led guides to attempt to reuse tickets fraudulently."
4. Close up of Pham
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Kim Pham, Louvre General Administrator:
"Our perception of these behaviors took place in the summer of 2024, and it was indeed the Louvre and the Louvre's staff who were on alert and who notified the police, allowing the police to launch an investigation. So that's something very important. Another thing is that we do not have investigative powers. So as soon as we identified these behaviors, we contacted the police. And that is really very important to mention."
6. Various of tourists gathering outside the Louvre Museum
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Kim Pham, Louvre General Administrator:
"Which museum in the world with this level of attendance wouldn't have some instances of fraud at certain times? It's statistically inevitable, and when I see colleagues having difficulties with fraud while they only receive 500,000 visitors per year, or 1 million visitors per year, I don't blame them. I think, well, yes, they are victims of wrongdoers, and they implement measures, which is exactly what we do."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Paris - 24 October 2025
8. Various of visitors walking near the Louvre Pyramid
9. Wide of tourists on a Seine River cruise

STORYLINE:
The Louvre’s No. 2 official said ticket fraud is “statistically inevitable” for a museum of its scale, after nine people were detained as part of an investigation into a suspected decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre.

“Which museum in the world, with this level of attendance, would not at certain moments have some issues of fraud?” Kim Pham, the Louvre’s general administrator, told The Associated Press.

His comments came as Paris prosecutors said all nine suspects taken before investigating judges have been formally charged in the case.

Those detained include two Louvre employees, several tour guides and one person suspected of being the mastermind, according to the prosecutors' office.

One suspect — whom prosecutors describe as the alleged ringleader — was charged with organized fraud, use of forged documents, aiding the entry and movement of foreigners as part of an organized group, active corruption, aggravated money laundering and participation in a criminal association, and was placed in pre-trial detention, prosecutors said.

The other eight were charged on various counts including forgery, organized fraud, aiding illegal entry and movement of foreigners in an organized group, active or passive corruption, aggravated money laundering and participation in a criminal association, and were placed under judicial supervision.

Prosecutors previously said the investigation focused on suspected ticket reuse by tour guides who allegedly brought groups into the museum by repeatedly using the same tickets, sometimes splitting groups to avoid a required guiding fee.










AP video shot by: Oleg Cetinic



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