Mohamed Al Fayed labelled ‘monster’ and compared to Jimmy Savile by lawyers representing his accusers
20 September 2024, 10:40 | Updated: 20 September 2024, 10:58
Mohamed Al Fayed has been described as a ‘monster’ by lawyers representing former Harrods employees who say they were victims of rape and sexual assault.
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Barrister Dean Armstrong KC, representing Al Fayed’s accusers, described him as presiding over a ‘vast web of abuse’ and saying “I have many years of practice... I have never seen a case as horrific as this.”
Mr Armstrong said of the former Harrod's boss, who died last year at the age of 94: "This case combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
"Savile because in this case, as in that, the institution, we say, knew about the behaviour.
"Epstein because in that case, as in this, there was a procurement system in place to source the women and girls - as you know there are some very young victims.
"And Weinstein, because it was a person at the very top of the organisation who was abusing his power.
"We will say plainly, Mohammed Al Fayed was a monster."
Five women alleged they had been raped by Mr Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94.
Harrods' current owners said they are "utterly appalled" by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by the late billionaire, adding: "As a business, we failed our employees who were his victims and for this, we sincerely apologise."
Barrister Bruce Drummond told the press conference it is "one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation" that he and "perhaps the world has ever seen".
He said: "This is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that certainly I, and perhaps the world has ever seen.
"It was absolutely horrific and I can't stress that word enough."
He added that "the system that procured them was enabling the abuse".
Mr Drummond said some of Mr Al Fayed's accusers have ended up in "psychiatric care".
He added: "This should never have happened and Harrods must accept responsibility for the damage these women have suffered."
One of his alleged victims, who went by the name Natacha, told the press conference the billionaire businessman was "highly manipulative".
She said: "Mohamed was clever and highly manipulative.
"He behaved like a father figure, often saying 'call me papa', often talking about his family and children, as if to make me feel safe around him."
She continued: "Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion's den, a layer of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation, and gross sexual misconduct.
"The chairman preyed on the most vulnerable, those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn't have parents to protect them."
Scotland Yard’s former head of royalty protection has revealed that he warned the late Queen about Al Fayed’s ‘salacious reputation.’
Dai Davies disclosed that police were first made aware of accusations against Al Fayed in the 1990s.
He said he warned an adviser to Queen Elizabeth II about his concerns - as Princess Diana, William and Harry were going on holiday with Al Fayed and his son Dodi before Diana’s death in 1997. He says his advice was ignored.
Mr Davies said: “Why wasn’t something done about it? There are clearly other victims out there.
Read more: Inexperienced police 'lacking confidence' to use force - as assaults on officers soar
“Why was it decided that they were not worthy of prosecution?”
He told the Daily Mail: “In 1997 there were already allegations he had been bribing MPs to table questions in the House and he had a salacious reputation. There were concerns about his persona as a dirty old man.
“ There were allegations I was aware of that Al Fayed had sexually assaulted women then paid them off. I had no compunction in warning the Queen about this individual.
“I advised the Queen, through Lord Fellowes [her private secretary], not to let the boys go away on holiday with him because of the allegations I was aware of – that he was a salacious attacker of women. “
In a statement, Harrods said: "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.
"This is why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved.
"This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees."
Mr Al Fayed was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria and came to London in the 1960s and set about building a business empire.
He took control of Harrods in 1985 and later expanded his business interests to include the Paris Ritz and Fulham Football Club.
The tycoon was rarely out of the newspapers, with his most public attack on the House of Windsor and the Establishment over the death of his son and heir Dodi - alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in the world's most famous car crash.
He spent a decade after the lovers' 1997 deaths in Paris's Alma tunnel repeatedly claiming that they were murdered in a plot by the security services and the Duke of Edinburgh.
But he was forced to reluctantly concede defeat after a high-profile six-month inquest in 2007 and 2008.
The billionaire's relationship with the royal family was depicted in season five of The Crown, where Mr Al Fayed, played by Salim Daw, was seen getting to know Diana.
Mr Al Fayed had previously been accused of sexually assaulting and groping multiple women, but a 2015 police investigation did not lead to any charges.
