Lawyer Dean Armstrong said Thursday that more than 400 alleged victims have so far contacted the legal team working on the case against late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of sexual abuse and rape.
In September a BBC documentary revealed that Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, sexually abused female staff at his London department store Harrods, forcing them to undergo medical screenings and complaining Threatened with consequences if he tried to do so.
“Sadly, the level of abuses committed by Al Fayed and supported by those around him continues to grow,” Armstrong told a news conference in London.
Al Fayed always denied similar allegations made by other reports before his death.
Asked for a response, Harrods pointed to its previous statements to Reuters on the allegations, in which it has apologised, said it was “shocked” by them and has introduced a process for any current or former employees of Harrods. Those who want to claim compensation. ,
Another lawyer, Bruce Drummond, said more than 400 claims had been made by women from around the world, mostly from Britain but also from the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and other countries.
“This is, in our opinion, abuse on an industrial scale,” Drummond said, adding that the abuse occurred “within the walls of Harrods”, but also at other locations linked to Al Fayed’s business empire, such as Fulham Football Club. , the Ritz Paris and his estate in Surrey.
The victims also included the daughter of the former US ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a famous football player, Drummond said, without naming any names.
The BBC documentary states that Harrods failed to intervene and helped conceal allegations of abuse during its ownership.
Lawyers have criticized the compensation scheme run by Harrods, saying that some victims do not feel comfortable reaching out to Harrods directly for compensation because this is where the abuse originated.
Drummond said some senior staff from the Al Fayed era still work at Harrods.
The Financial Times reported last week that four alleged victims had left Harrods’ compensation scheme over their concerns over potential conflicts of interest and poor communication.
Several media organizations had made allegations of sexual abuse against Al Fayed before the BBC documentary, including Vanity Fair in 1995, ITV in 1997, and Channel 4 in 2017. Lawyers said many women only felt able to speak publicly in September following the BBC report. After his death last year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
