French police search Ritz and two other Al Fayed-linked properties

French police searched three properties linked to Mohamed Al Fayed, including the Ritz hotel in Paris, as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged human trafficking, pimping and rape. The searches and arrests mark a cross-border inquiry involving British investigators, while survivors’ groups are urging UK police to investigate the wider network of locations where abuse is alleged to have occurred.

Several people were questioned and later released; investigators are analysing digital material seized in mid-October. The other properties searched were Villa Sainte-Thérèse in Saint-Tropez and Villa Windsor in Paris. Survivors’ groups say more than 500 women have come forward, while the Metropolitan Police is investigating 169 people who contacted it directly.