Egyptian businessman and Ritz resort proprietor Mohammed Al Fayed poses along with his resort workers in Paris, Monday, June 27, 2016.
| Picture Credit score: AP

Greater than 400 alleged victims have thus far contacted the authorized crew engaged on a case towards the late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of sexual abuse and rape, lawyer Dean Armstrong stated on Thursday (October 31, 2024).

A BBC documentary in September revealed Al Fayed, who died final 12 months aged 94, sexually abused feminine workers at his London division retailer Harrods, pressured them to have medical screenings and threatened penalties in the event that they tried to complain.

“The sheer scale of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed, and facilitated by these round him, sadly, continues to develop,” Mr. Armstrong instructed a information convention in London.

Al Fayed all the time denied related accusations raised by different stories earlier than his loss of life. Harrods didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark in regards to the lawyer’s feedback.

The shop has apologised, stated it was “appalled” by the allegations, and launched a course of for any present or former Harrods staff who want to declare compensation.

One other lawyer, Bruce Drummond, stated the greater than 400 claims have been made by ladies from world wide, principally from Britain but in addition from america, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and different nations.

“That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale abuse,” Mr. Drummond stated, including abuse passed off “inside the partitions of Harrods” but in addition in different areas linked to Al Fayed’s enterprise empire, similar to Fulham Soccer Membership, the Ritz Paris and his property in Surrey.

Victims embody the daughter of a former U.S. ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a widely known soccer participant, Mr. Drummond stated, with out giving any names.

The BBC documentary stated Harrods had did not intervene and helped to cowl up abuse allegations throughout his possession.

Attorneys have criticised the Harrods-run compensation scheme, saying among the victims don’t really feel snug to succeed in out to Harrods immediately for compensation as that’s the place the abuse unfolded.

Mr. Drummond stated some senior members of workers from the Al Fayed period nonetheless labored at Harrods.

The Monetary Occasions final week reported that 4 alleged victims had stop the Harrods compensation scheme on account of their issues over potential conflicts of curiosity and poor communication.

A number of media organisations had reported allegations of sexual abuse towards Al Fayed earlier than the BBC documentary, together with Self-importance Honest in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. Attorneys stated in September lots of the ladies solely felt in a position to converse publicly within the BBC report after he died final 12 months.