Dozens more women come forward with abuse allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed, BBC says
By Lauren Kent, CNN
London (CNN) — Sixty-five more women have come forward with abuse allegations against the late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, according to the BBC, following the network’s documentary that detailed testimonies of women who said he sexually assaulted and raped them.
The allegations date as far back as 1977, in Dubai – eight years before Al Fayed purchased the high-end London department store Harrods, making him widely known in the United Kingdom.
Among the dozens of women who contacted the BBC with new accounts of abuse, 37 said they had worked at Harrods, the British broadcaster reported.
As part of the BBC investigation published last month, more than 20 female ex-Harrods employees had already accused Al Fayed, who died last year at age 94, of sexually assaulting them. One said she was assaulted when she was 15 and Al Fayed was 79.
Harrods acknowledged that Al Fayed was “intent on abusing his power wherever he operated” and apologized to victims in a statement released at the time. “We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed,” the company said.
The alleged assaults are said to have taken place at a wide range of locations, including Al Fayed’s luxury apartment building in London and the Ritz hotel in Paris, which Al Fayed owned.
Al Fayed’s son, Dodi Fayed, died in 1997 along with Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash in Paris.
The latest allegations involve a range of abuse tactics, including multiple women who said they were recruited under false pretenses to work at Al Fayed’s private residences as nannies, chefs and maids and then sexually exploited, the BBC reported.
“The job just didn’t exist. He didn’t need a nanny. He didn’t want a nanny,” one woman told the BBC regarding her work at Al Fayed’s mansion in Surrey, England, where she says she was kept against her will and repeatedly sexually assaulted over several days.
In the statement issued last month, Harrods said that “new information came to light” last year about historic allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed. Since then, it said, “it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees.”
The company issued another statement Thursday in relation to the latest allegations, saying: “Since 2023, Harrods settled a number of claims with women who alleged historic sexual misconduct by Fayed. Since the airing of the documentary, so far there are 200+ individuals who are now in the Harrods process to settle claims directly with the business.”
Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.
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