Heraldo de Madrid - UK police officers probed over handling of Al-Fayed complaints

The probe centres on the quality of police inquiries in 2008 and 2013 in response to accusations against the late Egyptian billionaire.

While some 21 complaints were made to the London force before his death, aged 94 in 2023, none led to a prosecution.

Fayed, who owned the famed luxury department store in London, has been accused of large-scale rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

The five officers had been "advised" they were being "investigated for potential misconduct", The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said in a statement.

"The victims-survivors are being kept updated on the progress of our investigation," it added.

The Met says a total of 154 people have come forward so far to report allegations after the airing of a BBC documentary in September 2024 that detailed multiple claims of rape and sexual assault by Fayed.

The mother of one woman who went to police later told the BBC her daughter, who has since died, had been effectively dismissed by officers.

Samantha Ramsay was told it would be her word against Fayed's, but that her allegations would be added to "a pile" of others by women who had made the similar complaints.

- 'Modern slavery victim' -

A Met spokesperson said Thursday the force was assisting the ongoing IOPC probe launched in January 2025.

It said its own investigation into "individuals who may have facilitated or enabled offending by Mohamed Al-Fayed remains active".

The force said in March it had questioned three women on suspicion of "aiding and abetting rape" and "human trafficking for sexual exploitation".

Fayed bought Harrods in 1985, six years after acquiring the Ritz in the French capital.

French authorities have also been investigating a vast alleged human trafficking network reportedly set up by Fayed.

Rachael Louw, a former saleswoman at Harrods who has been interviewed by the French body combatting human trafficking, OCRTEH, told AFP a UK official process had in April recognised her as a victim of modern slavery.

She said she felt the decision by the National Referral Mechanism was "a validation and a vindication of what I said to the Met when I first reported back in 2024".

"And it's a vindication for many, many other survivors because our stories are very, very similar," she said.

Justine, who worked at Harrods and is a member of the victims group No One Above, said the IOPC probe was a step, but called for a full probe into alleged trafficking.

"What the Fayeds ran was a trafficking operation -- one that required a network of facilitators, institutional access, and sustained cover," she told AFP.

Fayed sold Harrods in 2010 to the investment arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund for a reported £1.5 billion ($2.2 billion).

His accusers say the assaults took place in his apartments in London and his properties in Paris, including the Ritz.

Allegations include a repeated pattern of women who underwent a selection process for positions in the Fayed empire.

Once selected, they were subjected to an "invasive" gynaecological examination, the results of which were shared with Fayed.

The women said when they tried to complain, they were threatened by senior security staff, demoted and subjected to false allegations until they had "no choice" but to leave Harrods.

P.Sanabria--HdM