The director of the Louvre resigned in the wake of a $100 million jewel heist.
Laurence des Cars was appointed in 2021 and had planned an ambitious refurbishment of the world’s most-visited museum, but a series of mishaps even before the theft of several Napoleonic-era crown jewels undermined her position.
Among them was an apparent decade-long fraud involving bribes to museum employees, reusing tickets multiple times, and splitting up large groups.
The fraud, which may also have been in operation at the Palace of Versailles, cost the museum around $12 million. Nine suspects have now been arrested, including tour guides.