Arrests made after three properties were searched in relation to inquiry into late businessman
French police have made arrests after raiding three properties, including the Ritz hotel in Paris, in relation to an investigation into sexual abuse and trafficking by Mohamed Al Fayed.
Several individuals were taken into custody for questioning last month and later released, according to the Paris public prosecutor’s office. Another property in Paris and one in Saint-Tropez, both with links to Fayed, were also searched in mid-October.
Several of Fayed’s alleged victims were also interviewed by officers from the organised crime division of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
It added that the searches were part of a preliminary investigation into “allegations of human trafficking committed by an organised group, aggravated pimping committed by an organised group, and rape”.
In an email sent to survivors of Fayed’s alleged abuse earlier today, the Metropolitan police said its officers were present during the searches on 13 and 14 October, in a coordinated operation with French investigators.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said: “Searches and evidence-gathering operations were carried out in mid-October 2026, notably within the Hotel Ritz in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, as well as at the Villa Sainte-Thérèse in Saint-Tropez, a former property of Mohamed Al Fayed, and at the Villa Windsor in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, in…
