British police mentioned on Friday that they had recorded 40 new allegations linked to former Harrods division retailer proprietor Mohamed Al Fayed following a BBC documentary through which victims accused the late businessman of sexual abuse and rape.
Egyptian billionaire Al Fayed died final yr at 94 after a long time making newspaper headlines as one in every of Britain’s finest identified businessmen.
The BBC documentary mentioned he had sexually abused feminine employees at Harrods in London and had threatened them in the event that they tried to complain. It mentioned Harrods had didn’t intervene and helped to cowl up abuse allegations throughout his possession.
Harrods, which Al Fayed offered in 2010, has mentioned it’s “appalled” by the allegations and that it’s now a “very completely different group.”
Police known as final month for anybody with allegations towards Al Fayed to contact them and mentioned it will look to prosecute others after the accusations.
“Detectives have obtained quite a few items of data, predominantly regarding the actions of Mohamed Al Fayed however some regarding the actions of others,” mentioned Stephen Clayman, head of specialist crime at London’s Metropolitan Police.
The new allegations relate to 40 victims and canopy offenses together with sexual assault and rape from 1979 to 2013, police mentioned.
They’re along with 21 allegations about Al Fayed made earlier than the documentary. They have been reported to the police between 2005 and 2023 however no motion was taken towards him.
Al Fayed at all times denied the accusations.
Whereas a lot of the new info considerations his possession of Harrods from 1985 to 2010, police are contacting different organizations linked to him to make sure anybody affected is recognized, they mentioned.
Harrods didn’t instantly reply to Reuters’ request for a touch upon Friday’s police announcement.
