French Police Raided the Ritz in the Al Fayed Investigation: Who Was Held and What Happens Next

11 Nov

An empty, gilded hotel corridor at night with one door ajar, cold light spilling out across a red carpet and a plain cardboard box on the floor. — French investigators searched three properties linked to the late Mohamed Al Fayed in October 2026.

French Police Searched The Ritz, Held Several Suspects And Then Let Them Go: So What Happens Next In The Al Fayed Investigation?

For decades the Ritz Paris sold itself on discretion. In mid-October 2026, French investigators walked through its doors with a search operation, and British detectives were with them.

The Paris prosecutor's office has confirmed that the hotel on Place Vendôme was one of three properties searched as part of a preliminary investigation linked to allegations against the late Mohamed Al Fayed. Several suspects were taken into police custody, questioned and then released. Computers, phones and other digital material were seized and are now being analysed.

It is understood to be the first time anyone has been arrested over the alleged abuse and trafficking connected to the former owner of Harrods and the Ritz. Nobody has been charged in France. The people who were held have not been publicly identified by the authorities. Being questioned in custody is not a finding of guilt.

What French Prosecutors Have Confirmed

The Paris prosecutor's office says its organised crime section is running a preliminary investigation into "allegations of human trafficking committed by an organized group, aggravated pimping committed by an organized group, and rape".

In its statement, the prosecutor's office said: "At this stage of the proceedings, several victims have been interviewed by French investigators, and the investigations are being conducted in liaison with the British authorities."

It continued: "In this context, 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 the presence of British investigators."

On the arrests, the prosecutor's office said: "Several suspects were taken into police custody, measures which were lifted following their interviews, specifically for the purpose of analyzing digital material seized during the search operations. The investigations are continuing under the direction of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office."

The investigation was opened in summer 2025 after complaints from former personal assistants, and it is being handled by France's specialist office for combating human trafficking. According to sources close to the case, investigators have heard from at least five complainants in France, the most recent in October.

The Dates: 13 And 14 October

The prosecutor's office described the operation only as taking place in "mid-October 2026". A more precise date came from London.

In a confidential letter sent to survivors, the Metropolitan Police said its officers were present during the searches on 13 and 14 October. A Met spokesperson publicly confirmed that officers travelled to France in October and were present during the operation, which has been described as a coordinated effort between British and French investigators.

The searches became public almost four weeks later, on 10 November 2026, when the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed them in response to press inquiries.

Who Was Held?

This is the question everyone is asking, and the honest answer is that it has not been made public.

The Paris prosecutor's office has said only that "several suspects" were taken into custody and later released. It has not given their names, their number, their ages or their roles, and it has not said what, if anything, they are suspected of individually. Because the case is still a preliminary inquiry run by prosecutors, no one has been placed under formal investigation, a step known in France as mise en examen that can only happen once an investigating judge is involved.

There is no public basis for speculating about who those people might be. The prosecutor's own wording is important: the custody measures were lifted after interviews so that investigators could analyse the seized digital material. The case is still at the evidence-gathering stage.

It is also worth being clear about the properties. The Ritz is still owned by the Al Fayed family. The Villa Sainte-Thérèse in Saint-Tropez is a former Fayed property, which he is reported to have owned until 2015. The Villa Windsor in western Paris, once the home of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson after the abdication, was a Fayed family holiday home that he leased from the city until 2018. There is no suggestion that the current owners of the former Fayed properties are linked to the investigation.

The management of the Ritz Paris said in a statement that it "does not tolerate any form of harassment, abuse or inappropriate behaviour" and was ready "to cooperate fully with the competent judicial authorities".

Why The Ritz And The Villas Matter

Mohamed Al Fayed bought the Ritz in 1979. He sold Harrods in 2010 and died in 2023, aged 94, without ever being charged with a crime.

The allegations against him became a national story in September 2024, when the documentary and podcast Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods carried accounts from more than 20 women. One woman in the documentary said she was sexually assaulted by him at the Ritz in Paris; another said she was raped by him at the Villa Windsor. Since then, more than 400 alleged victims or witnesses have come forward to lawyers, and survivors' groups put the figure at more than 500.

Some of the allegations also concern his brother, Salah Fayed, who died in 2010. Police Scotland has said it is carrying out further investigations into allegations connected to the Balnagown Estate in the Highlands, and that "three people have been identified in connection with offending against a number of victims".

What makes the French case different is its framing. Rather than focusing only on one dead man, French prosecutors are investigating trafficking and aggravated pimping "committed by an organised group". Lawyers for several complainants in France, Caroline Joly, Eva Joly and Agathe Barril, have said that the women's testimony points to "an organisation" in which great personal wealth and business interests were allegedly "mobilised in the service of their sexual predation". Those are allegations, and they have not been tested in any court.

Where The UK Investigation Stands

In Britain, the Metropolitan Police inquiry is known as Operation Cornpoppy. The Met has described its investigation into those who may have facilitated Al Fayed's alleged offending as "one of the largest and most complex the Met is currently undertaking".

A Met spokesperson said: "Seven suspects have so far been interviewed under caution on suspicion of offences including aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, assisting the commission of sexual offences, and human trafficking for sexual exploitation." The force has described them as four women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 80s, and three men in their 60s, 70s and 80s. None has been charged.

Separately, detectives have sent a full evidential file to the Crown Prosecution Service about one further suspect, a man in his 80s, concerning two alleged indecent assaults on two women in London. The CPS will decide whether charges should be brought. No decision had been announced by the time the French searches became public.

"To date, 169 victims have now come forward," the Met said, adding that it would continue to assess victim testimonies for evidence of human trafficking.

What Survivors' Groups Are Saying

Survivors' groups welcomed the French operation but used it to put pressure on the Met.

Jen Mills and Lindsay Mason, co-chairs of Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors and both former personal assistants to Al Fayed, said: "We want to see the same thoroughness applied to every property where survivors say they were taken or abused, including here in Britain. The searches in Paris and Saint-Tropez must be the beginning, not the end."

The survivor collective No One Above went further. "France is treating this as organised human trafficking, led by specialists, with properties searched and evidence seized. That is what a serious investigation into a network looks like," a spokesperson said. "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 Harrods Compensation Scheme And The Fight Over The Estate

The criminal investigations are running alongside a long-running fight over money.

Harrods, which has accepted vicarious liability for abuse allegedly committed by its former owner, opened a redress scheme for survivors on 31 March 2025. It closed to new claims on 31 March 2026 and offered up to £385,000 per person. Harrods' accounts to 31 January 2026 showed £4.1 million paid in compensation and £51.8 million set aside for future claims. By September 2026, Harrods said it had made settlements with 113 women, and in written submissions to the High Court in November its barrister said the store had paid £6.9 million to alleged victims so far.

Not every survivor accepted that route. KP Law, which represents about 275 survivors, has said the true value of its clients' claims could reach between £100 million and £150 million.

Harrods is also seeking a full indemnity from the Fayed estate for compensation it pays. Harrods has said its priority is "to ensure all eligible survivors receive compensation for abuses perpetrated by Fayed".

In early November 2026, the High Court heard Harrods' application to remove Al Fayed's widow and two of his daughters as executors of his estate and replace them with independent administrators. Harrods argued there was a "serious risk" the estate could be insolvent; lawyers for the family said the claim was "entirely without foundation". Survivors are divided: some, represented by Leigh Day, back Harrods' bid, while KP Law has opposed removing the family. The outcome will shape how quickly claims against the estate can be resolved.

What Happens Next

First, investigators will analyse the seized digital material. That is the explicit reason the prosecutor's office gave for releasing the suspects, and it could take months.

Second, prosecutors could decide to open a judicial investigation, known as an information judiciaire, led by an investigating judge. Under French law, this phase is required when the alleged offence is a crime, the most serious category, which includes rape. Only within that process can someone be formally placed under investigation, and only at its end can a judge send a case to trial.

Third, the cooperation with Britain is likely to continue. The French operation was carried out "in liaison with the British authorities", and the Met's own inquiry, its pending CPS file and the separate Police Scotland investigation all remain open.

For survivors, the searches are a sign that investigators are looking beyond Al Fayed himself. But nobody held in October has been charged, and the evidence has not yet been tested.

If you have been affected by the issues in this article, Rape Crisis offers support in England and Wales on 0808 802 9999.

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James Taylor