French police have been searching the home near Paris of a woman who until recently was a close companion of 87-year-old film star Alain Delon.

The move follows formal complaints lodged with police by Delon’s three children against Hiromi Rollin.

They allege the 66 year-old Japanese film production assistant engaged in “moral harassment” of their father.

The children claim that Ms Rollin used her influence to isolate their father and make him dependent on her.

The three – Anthony, 58, Anouchka who is 32, and 29-year-old Alain-Fabien – also allege she controlled his correspondence and blackened their names, and that she maltreated Delon’s beloved dog Louba and forced the actor to put it in kennels.

The story is playing strongly in the French media because of Delon’s legendary status as one of the last monstres sacrés or big beasts of French cinema.

Known for his heart-throb looks and tough-guy screen persona, Delon starred in hits from the 1960s including The Leopard and Rocco and his Brothers.

From the 1990s, his film appearances grew rare, but he remained a fixture in the celebrity columns. In 2019, when he was given an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes festival, he made an emotional speech in which he appeared to bid adieu to cinema.

That same year, he suffered a stroke, and from that time, he was cared for increasingly by Hiromi Rollin at his country house at Douchy, south-east of Paris. The pair had met on film sets in the 1990s.

After a showdown with the three children in early July, she moved out of the Douchy house.

Speaking on French television, Anthony Delon – also an actor – said that in late 2021, his father had had a fall and been taken to hospital. But he said Ms Rollin had failed to inform the family until the next day.

“I understood then that something was not right,” he said.

Anthony Delon described Ms Rollin as his father’s dame de compagnie (lady companion), which implies a contractual relationship rather than one of a sexual or emotional nature. She, on the other hand, describes herself as Delon’s compagne – or partner.

In a 39-page statement sent to the prosecutor’s office, her lawyer denied the family’s allegations, claiming that she had herself been physically hurt during the row at Douchy in early July.

He said that unlike the children, Ms Rollin had taken daily personal care of the aging actor since he suffered his stroke and that she had not been paid to “keep him company”.

“It is to be feared that the children’s interest is purely pecuniary; and that if they are so quick to point the finger at Madame Rollin, it is because they hope one day to draw a financial benefit,” the statement said.