Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed a ‘monster’, victims’ lawyers say

PARIS – The legal team representing alleged victims of former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed says the late billionaire was a “monster” whose crimes were “enabled” by the upmarket department store.

At least 37 women have accused Al-Fayed, who died in 2023 at the age of 94, of sexual abuse, lawyer Dean Armstrong told reporters in London on Friday. Armstrong said Al-Fayed was a “monster” who perpetrated a “massive web of abuse.” Outlining the legal claim filed against Harrods, Armstrong said Al-Fayed was “enabled by a system” that permeated the store.

“This is and was a systemic failure of corporate social responsibility, and that systemic failure rests on the shoulders of Harrods,” Armstrong said. The legal team involved in the BBC investigation alleged that Harrods knew about Al Fayed’s alleged crimes. The store showed an “abject failure of corporate social responsibility and a failure to provide a safe system of work,” Armstrong said.

The team called the case “horrific,” comparing it to that of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in prison before he could stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges, and to Jimmy Savile, a British television personality who was found to be a prolific sex offender after his death. Defense attorney Bruce Drummond described the case as “one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that I, and perhaps the world, have ever seen.”

Harrods apologized to victims in a statement on Thursday and said it was “deeply shocked” by allegations of abuse by the former owner, the billionaire businessman who owned the department store between 1985 and 2010. (CNN)…(+)