Business mogul Mohammed Al Fayed has been accused of rape by multiple women in a BBC exposé.
Al Fayed, who died last year, is accused of sexual assault by more than 20 ex-employees, four of whom say he raped them.
Responding, Harrods’ current owners told the BBC they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed. It added: “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.” Harrods also apologized to the victims.
Al Fayed previously faced sexual assault claims when he was alive but never of rape, and he was interviewed under caution by the Metropolitan Police after an allegation of sexual assault against a 15-year-old schoolgirl in October 2008. In the BBC exposé, women speak both on and off record about how the mogul would abuse them in London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi, often on business trips.
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Al Fayed was an Egyptian billionaire who founded Harrods and also owned the Ritz Paris and Fulham Football Club. His son, Dodi, dated Princess Diana and was killed in the same car crash as her in 1997.
Al Fayed’s name has come back into public life over the past couple of years after he was portrayed in The Crown by Salim Daw, for which Daw was BAFTA nominated. His son Dodi was played by Khalid Abdalla.