Chris Rock and ex wife in full-scale police probe in South Africa over girl they took to the US and raised for seven years - but didn't formally adopt

The USA comedian and actor is facing a full-scale criminal investigation over raising a South African girl in his American home for almost seven years without adopting her. One officer compared the potential offense to 'child trafficking'. The seven-year-old had been part of Rock's family since November 2008, when he and Malaak Compton-Rock brought her from South Africa to live in their home in Alpine, New Jersey, one of America's most affluent areas, with their two biological daughters.

Compton-Rock subsequently described the South African girl as one of the couple's three children. But the comedian and his philanthropist wife split last year, and the girl's legal status has now become part of the divorce.

Rock appears to have had no contact with her since the estrangement from Compton-Rock last year, despite spending time with their two other children.

Compton-Rock is now in the process of legally adopting the child in the United States, while it has been reported that the girl entered the U.S. on a leisure travel visa, not as a prospective adoptee.

Government agencies were alerted by American authorities to questions over the girl's legal status and have asked for answers - leading to the issue being raised with the country's elite police unit.

A member of the Hawks team – which is tasked with investigating South Africa's most high profile and sensitive crimes – confirmed to MailOnline the case had been raised in a recent meeting after the country's interior ministry - the Department of Home Affairs - began its own probe.

'It sounded like a strange case and it has been flagged up to us. We are awaiting more details from Home Affairs who are looking into how this came about,' the detective told MailOnline.

'Whatever arrangement there was between the Rocks and the parents of the child, laws are in place to prevent parents from allowing their children to travel overseas indefinitely with third parties.

'It seems there has not been regular contact with the biological parents and if money changed hands, or even gifts in return for the child staying with other people overseas, it sounds very much like child trafficking,' they added.