French police search Ritz and Al Fayed properties in trafficking probe

French police have searched several properties linked to the late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed as part of an investigation into a suspected international network trafficking women, prosecutors told AFP on Tuesday.

The Paris prosecutor's office said authorities searched the Ritz hotel in Paris, the former royal residence Villa Windsor, and the Castel Sainte-Therese in Saint-Tropez.

Individuals had been held for questioning and authorities were analysing computers, phones and other digital media, prosecutors said.

The operations represent a development in a probe launched in 2025 to track down accomplices of Fayed and his late brother, Salah Al Fayed.

In 2025, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into claims of aggravated human trafficking, procuring prostitutes and rape in a bid to track down accomplices in an alleged international network supplying victims to Mohamed Al Fayed and his brother.

French investigators have already heard from at least five complainants, the latest in October, sources close to the case told AFP.

Lawyers Eva Joly, Caroline Joly and Agathe Barril, who represent several complainants, told AFP in a joint statement: "Every month, new victims from around the world overcome their fears and find the courage to speak out about what they endured."

They added: "We are, however, only halfway through the investigations."

Complainants have told investigators of a system aimed at recruiting young women hoping for a career at Harrods, or as assistants, coupled with invasive gynaecological examinations, leading to made-up jobs that put them at the disposal of the Al Fayed brothers.

Some told AFP they believe they were drugged.

One complainant, a former Ritz employee who was transported between France and Britain, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Trafficking cannot be carried out without a highly organised group of individuals."

She praised the French investigation, but said London's Metropolitan Police (Met) were still "beating around the bush" 30 years after the first complaints.

In a letter to survivors on Tuesday, the Met said the investigation was one of the force's "largest and most complex", saying 169 victims have now come forward, and its officers are working closely with French authorities.

The London force has questioned seven people suspected of enabling Mohamed Al Fayed, but none has been charged.

French and British investigators are now sharing information on the case and the prosecutor's office said UK authorities were present during the recent operations in France.

The management of the Ritz told AFP it "does not tolerate any form of harassment, abuse or inappropriate behaviour", adding it was ready "to cooperate fully with the competent judicial authorities".

Mohamed Al Fayed, who died aged 94 in 2023, is at the heart of a vast sexual abuse scandal in the United Kingdom, but he passed with no charges brought against him despite multiple complaints.

The Ritz is just one of the Egyptian-born tycoon's high-end ventures where victims have said they faced abuse. Others include London department store Harrods, Fulham Football Club and a fleet of private jets.

Victims have also alleged abuse at the Villa Windsor in western Paris, the one-time residence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – the former British King Edward VIII and his American wife, Wallis Simpson.

The property was reportedly planned as the residence of Mohamed Al Fayed's son Dodi and his girlfriend Princess Diana, before their deaths in a Paris car crash in 1997.

Sources

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