French police raid Ritz in Al Fayed abuse inquiry

Police raid three properties

French police have made arrests after raiding the Ritz hotel in Paris, another property in Paris, and one in Saint-Tropez, all linked to Mohamed Al Fayed, in relation to an investigation into sexual abuse and…

What the investigation covers

The searches are part of a preliminary investigation into allegations of human trafficking by an organised group, aggravated pimping by an organised group, and rape.

Coordinated UK and French operation

The Metropolitan police said its officers were present during searches on thirteen and fourteen October in a coordinated operation with French investigators. Digital material seized is being analysed.

Historic properties targeted

Villa Sainte-Thérèse in Saint-Tropez, where Diana, Princess of Wales stayed with her sons in summer nineteen ninety-seven, was searched.

Survivor testimony in Paris

Pelham Spong told French investigators in November that Al Fayed, who owned the Ritz hotel in Paris, forcibly kissed her and offered her a salary of sixty-five thousand euros a year if she slept with…

“Survivors deserve actions, not words.”

Scale of alleged abuse

Survivors' groups say more than five hundred women have come forward about abuse at Harrods, Park Lane, Fulham football club, the Ritz hotel in Paris and other places owned by Al Fayed.

Survivors call for broader action

Campaign groups including Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors and No One Above are calling on the Met police to conduct its own searches of Al Fayed's British properties and treat the case as organised…

“We want to see the same thoroughness applied to every property where survivors say they were taken or abused, including here in Britain.”