Former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed has been accused of rape. Five former female employees allege the late billionaire sexually abused them at the luxury London department store.
A new BBC documentary has revealed that the Egyptian-born businessman, who died in London last August aged 94, carried out the attacks while he was in charge of the branch between 1984 and its sale in 2010.
According to the company, more than 20 former female Harrods employees have come forward to accuse him of sexual abuse.
The new programme Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods claims that the company itself not only failed to help the alleged victims, but also covered up their claims.
The store’s current owners said they were “deeply shocked” by the allegations and have apologized to the affected women.
Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed has been accused of sexual abuse by several women, including Gemma, who worked as his personal assistant between 2007 and 2009.
A new BBC documentary has revealed that the Egyptian-born businessman, who died in London last August aged 94, carried out the attacks when he was Harrods boss between 1984 and its sale in 2010.
The company says more than 20 former female Harrods employees have come forward to accuse Al Fayed (pictured) of sexual abuse
Bruce Drummond, a lawyer who represented a number of former employees, said: “The web of corruption and abuse at this company was unbelievable and very dark.”
The alleged attacks are said to have taken place not only in London, but also in Paris and Saint Tropez in France and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
One of the women involved, who says Fayed raped her at his flat in London’s Park Lane area, told BBC investigators: ‘I made it clear I didn’t want this to happen.
“I didn’t give permission. I just wanted it to be over.”
Another woman said she was raped as a teenager at the Mayfair address, describing staff at Harrods as his “playthings”.
She said: ‘Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral sense.
“We were all so scared. He actively cultivated fear. When he said ‘jump,’ workers would ask, ‘How high?'”
One of his alleged victims was named Gemma, who worked as a personal assistant for Al Fayed between 2007 and 2009. She says his behaviour became increasingly frightening during work trips abroad.
She alleges he raped her at Villa Windsor in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, the former home of the abdicated King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson.
She described waking up to find him trying to get into bed with her, adding: ‘I said to him, “No, I don’t want that.”
‘And he kept trying to get into bed, and at that point he was like on top of me and [I] couldn’t really go anywhere.
‘I was lying face down on the bed and he was pressing against me.’
Fayed was accused of sexual abuse during his lifetime, but the BBC now suspects that many more women have been his victims.
Harrods said in a statement to the BBC: “The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and led by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010.
‘A policy that puts the well-being of our employees at the heart of everything we do.’