Seizure of Thousands of Chinese Fake Dining Tickets in France

Seizure of Thousands of Chinese Fake Dining Tickets in France
11/19/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

A parcel containing thousands of fake made-in-China dining tickets has been intercepted by French customs at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, near the eastern industrial city of Basel.

The package, sent from China, contained a total of 10,512 counterfeit dining tickets, with a face value of 10.50 euros (US$14.17) per ticket, with a total value of 110,376 euros (US$149.093), according to a statement from Franco-Swiss airport customs on Nov.15.

Dining tickets are a voucher often given by companies to their employees to be used in various restaurants. Officials became suspicious of the sender’s mailing address, as all dining tickets are normally made in France. The parcel was delivered to the recipient in Strasbourg, who was immediately arrested.

This fraud comes on the heels of another similar discovery earlier this year—China-made fake admission tickets to the famous French Louvre Museum.

Made-in-China fake cruise ship tickets destined for Paris have also been uncovered by customs this year.

At the end of August, Belgian custom officials seized a parcel from China, which contained 3,600 fake tickets to the Louvre Museum. A judicial official has conducted a full-scale investigation, questioning many Chinese tourist guides. No arrests have been made as yet.

Written in English by Christine Ford.

Zhang Dun, Ph.D., has covered current affairs and politics in China since 2010, and knows well the political system of the Chinese Communist Party. Previously, he was a chemical researcher at a Chinese institute, at Kyushu University in Japan, and at several institutes in the United States.