The police in London and New York said Thursday that they were looking into complaints involving the disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, the latest turn in a scandal that has consumed Hollywood over allegations of sexual abuse and harassment.

The new reports are preliminary, but the fact that the police are reviewing them points to the breadth of the legal challenges that Mr. Weinstein could face. Over the past week, investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed allegations that he had sexually harassed or abused numerous current or former employees and other women over several decades. Mr. Weinstein was fired by the production company he co-founded, the Weinstein Company, on Sunday.

On Thursday, London’s Metropolitan Police Service confirmed that it had received a referral from the police in Merseyside, England, about an allegation of sexual assault.

“The Met has been passed an allegation of sexual abuse by Merseyside police on Wednesday,” the London police said about the Weinstein case. “The allegation will be assessed by officers from the child abuse and sexual offenses command.”