The “horrifying” scale of the allegations against Mohamed al-Fayed is becoming clearer, as a team of lawyers investigating claims of rape and sexual assault by the late Harrods and Fulham FC boss revealed they have now been approached by hundreds of people allegedly impacted by his abuse.
The team called Justice for Harrods Survivors said on Thursday its lawyers have been contacted by at least 421 people, including witnesses and survivors. Many of them have come forward since the airing of a BBC documentary last month, after his death last year at the age of 94.
That documentary, Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods, saw more than 20 women accuse Fayed of sexual assault, including five who said they were raped, in abuse alleged to have taken place in London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi.
Lawyer Bruce Drummond warned that “the scale of it is absolutely horrifying”, as he revealed the team now has credible evidence of abuse by Fayed at Fulham FC, Park Lane residencies, his estate in Surrey, his aircraft, the Ritz Hotel in Paris, Villa Windsor in France, and on his yacht in St Tropez.
Citing his colleague, barrister Maria Mulla, Mr Drummond added: “Everywhere Fayed went, abuse followed. Whether you’re an ambassador’s daughter, the daughter of a famous footballer, a footballer, or a complete unknown starting their first job in a strange city, it appears that every young lady in his orbit was a target.”
Here is a timeline of the allegations against Fayed:
1985: Having moved to the UK in the mid-1960s after living in his native Egypt and following spells in Haiti and Italy, Fayed first purchased the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1979, and department store Harrods in 1985.
1989: Fayed received the Plaque de Paris, the French capital’s highest honour, after restoring the villa of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, on which he had signed a 50-year lease four years prior.
1995: Vanity Fair first reports allegations of sexual abuse and racism by Fayed and secret surveillance of his staff at Harrods. He sued the magazine for libel, sparking a two-year investigation by its editor which was closed after both sides settled in the wake of the death of Fayed’s son Dodi and Princess Diana.
1997: Fayed purchased Fulham FC, a team at that time in the third division.
December 1997: ITV reported further serious allegations against Fayed, including sexual harassment and groping. He insisted the claims were outrageous and untrue.
1998: Tom Bower’s book, Fayed: The Unauthorised Biography, details further allegations of sexual assault against Fayed, described by his spokesperson as “a travesty of the truth”.
2009: The Metropolitan Police bring the first case of a woman coming forward with allegations to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, it was decided not to proceed with charges in this case – and a second in 2015 – because there was no “realistic prospect of conviction”.
A total of 21 women approached Scotland Yard prior to the BBC documentary last month. The Met sought “early investigative advice” from the CPS after 10 other allegations, but no further action was taken. Seven allegations resulted in no further action, while two claims were not referred as Fayed had already died.
2010: Fayed sold Harrods to the Qatar Investment Authority for a reported £1.5bn.
2013: Fayed sold Fulham FC to Shahid Khan, owner of American football team Jacksonville Jaguars.
2017: A Channel 4 Dispatches programme carries three women’s allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Fayed.
2018: Fayed’s former personal assistant Sophia Stone reveals to her husband Keaton that her former boss had sexually assaulted her, prompting him to build a dossier of evidence against Fayed, with the assistance of Justice for Harrods Survivors, used in the BBC’s 2024 documentary.
July 2023: Harrods begins settling claims with women who have accused Fayed. There are now more than 250 people settling compensation claims directly with the business.
August 2023: Fayed died at the age of 94.
September 2024: The BBC aired its documentary Al Fayed: Predator At Harrods. At a press conference, Dean Armstrong KC of the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said the situation combined “some of the most horrific elements of cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein”.
31 October 2024: Justice for Harrods Survivors reveal more than 420 people have now contacted them in relation to their work to uncover allegations against Fayed.
Harrods’ current owners have said they are “utterly appalled” by the allegations and are carrying out an internal review into whether current staff were involved in the allegations “directly or indirectly”.
They previously said in a statement: “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this, we sincerely apologise.
“The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.”
Fulham FC has previously said it absolutely condemns abuse in all forms, adding: “We remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is or would have been impacted by Mohamed al-Fayed in any manner as described in recent reports.”
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).
