The former owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, was accused of raping and beating five women, and twenty more women claimed to have been abused between the late 1980s and the early 2000s.
Five women who worked at Harrods were allegedly sexually assaulted and raped by former owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Aged 94, the billionaire passed away last year. Twenty more women who worked at Harrods between the late 1980s and the early 2000s reported being sexually abused by him.
The women said that the attacks took place at the company’s headquarters, in Fayed’s London apartment, or during international travel, frequently in Paris at the Ritz hotel.
Mohamed Al Fayed would frequently patrol the sales floors of department stores, identifying young female assistants who caught his eye and then isolating and assaulting them. “Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods,” a BBC documentary, featured the accusations.
The broadcaster asserted in the exposé that Harrods assisted in covering up accusations against Mohamed Al Fayed in addition to failing to act. The company’s current owners emphasized that the business is “very different” and expressed their “utter appallement” at the accusations.
Bruce Drummond, an attorney from a group of lawyers defending several of the women, declared, “This company’s web of abuse and corruption was unbelievable and very dark.”
Sophia, who served as Mohamed Al Fayed’s personal assistant from 1988 to 1991, is one of his purported victims. She claimed he made multiple attempts to rape her. She declared, “He was disgusting, and people shouldn’t remember him that way.” It wasn’t his personality.
After working late on Harrods business, another alleged victim stayed in one of Al Fayed’s apartments rather than taking a taxi home at his insistence. He then asked her to come to his apartment, where he asked her to sit on the bed while he placed a firm grip on her leg. “I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen,” the woman remarked. I didn’t offer my permission. All I wanted was for it to end. I recall the weight of his body resting on me. It’s just the noises he makes. and simply transporting my thoughts elsewhere.”
“He raped me,” she declared. You then hold yourself accountable. Your boss is standing in front of you in a dressing gown, and you are there to do work. I’m trying not to offend him, even as you’re trying to get out of the situation.
Born in Egypt, Mohamed Al Fayed worked as a businessman throughout the Middle East until relocating to the UK in the 1970s. He bought the Paris Ritz hotel in 1979 and took over Harrods in 1985. From 1997 to 2013, he was also the owner of Fulham FC. Dodi, his son, and Diana, Princess of Wales perished in a Paris automobile accident.
