More than 20 female ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, of sexually assaulting them. This is a
More than 20 female ex-Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, of sexually assaulting them.
This is according to an in-depth BBC investigation. The documentary and podcast titled Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods, gathered evidence that, during Fayed’s ownership, Harrods not only failed to intervene, but helped cover up abuse allegations.
Harrods’ current owners say they were utterly appalled by the allegations and that his victims had been failed for which the store sincerely apologised.
Since the investigation came to light, more former Harrods employees have contacted the BBC saying Al Fayed assaulted them.
They claim the incidents took place in London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi.
Al Fayed faced sexual assault claims while he was alive, but these allegations are of unprecedented scale and seriousness.
The women say the portrayal of Fayed, whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, as pleasant and gregarious was far from the truth.
Put together, their testimonies reveal a pattern of predatory behaviour and sexual abuse by Fayed.
According to former staff, the Harrods owner would regularly tour the department store’s vast sales floors and identify young female assistants he found attractive, who would then be promoted to work in his offices upstairs. The assaults would be carried out in Harrods’ offices, in Fayed’s London apartment, or on foreign trips often in Paris at the Ritz hotel, which he also owned, or his nearby Villa Windsor property.
Many of the women said that when they began working directly for Fayed, they underwent medicals including invasive sexual health tests carried out by doctors. This was presented as a perk, the women said, but many did not see their own results even though they were sent to Fayed.
They said they were threatened and intimidated by Harrods’ then-director of security, John Macnamara, to stop them speaking out.
