OMM Newsroom
French police have made arrests after searching three properties, including the “Ritz” hotel in Paris, as part of an investigation into allegations of abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed, according to the BBC.
In a confidential letter to survivors, the Metropolitan Police said French officers searched the properties on 13 and 14 October, resulting in “a number of arrests”. Metropolitan Police officers were present but did not take part in the operation, which is understood to have been conducted jointly.
The arrests are the first in connection with allegations of abuse and trafficking by the former owner of “Harrods” and the “Ritz”.
The Metropolitan Police shared a statement from French authorities with victims. It said several victims had been interviewed by French investigators, who were conducting the inquiry in liaison with British authorities.
Searches and evidence-gathering operations took place in mid-October 2026 at the “Ritz” in Paris’s 1st arrondissement, Villa Sainte-Thérèse in Saint-Tropez, a former property of Al Fayed, and Villa Windsor in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. British investigators were present.
Several suspects were taken into police custody. Those measures were lifted after they were interviewed, with the digital material seized during the searches to be analysed, the statement said. The investigation is continuing under the direction of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed that officers travelled to France in October and were present during the operation.
More than 20 women accused Al Fayed of sexual assault in a BBC documentary and podcast in September 2024. One woman featured in the documentary said he sexually assaulted her at the “Ritz” in Paris, while another said he raped her at the Villa Windsor hotel in Paris.
Since the allegations emerged, more than 400 alleged victims or witnesses have come forward to lawyers.
The Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors group welcomed what it called “significant developments” and cooperation between the Metropolitan Police and French authorities.
“We believe that all properties owned by Fayed should be investigated with the same thoroughness as those already searched, wherever they are located, to ensure that no potentially relevant evidence is overlooked,” the group said.
“We hope these developments represent meaningful progress towards identifying and holding to account all those who facilitated, concealed or assisted his offending, wherever they operated.”
The survivor advocacy group No One Above said France was treating the case as organised human trafficking, with specialist investigators searching properties and seizing evidence.
“Two years on, survivors are still waiting for the same from the Met. It is time the National Crime Agency took this investigation over,” the group said.
