Latest allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed after former Harrods boss was branded a ‘monster’

More allegations have surfaced about former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed after the late billionaire was accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple women who worked at the iconic London store.

Lawyers for the alleged victims have said they are also investigating all “entities he was involved with”, including Fulham FC, although no alleged survivors from the football club have yet to come forward.

At a press conference on Friday, Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, was described as a “monster” who combined “elements of the Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein cases”.

Here’s what we know about the latest allegations.

Fayed ‘wore viagra and cherry-picked staff’ from Harrods floor

During his lifetime, Fayed was accused of groping and sexually assaulting female Harrods employees. One allegation of rape was investigated by police in 2015, but no charges were brought.

After the BBC broadcast Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods In a documentary on Thursday, another former Harrods employee shared her experiences with the Egyptian tycoon.

A former member of the luxury department store’s management team has said that Fayed always carried Viagra in his pocket and picked female staff from the shop floor.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Sky News that Fayed “controlled everything with fear”.

“The power dynamics were so strong, in the blink of an eye you would lose your career and they would try to destroy you. It was a dark psychological trap and everyone was in it,” she said.

She added: “The chairman would walk around the store and pick out people on the shop floor. If you had blond hair and brown eyes, you were favoured.

“He always said, ‘I want that in my office now.’ He had Viagra in his pocket and people were so afraid of his floor walks – if you didn’t laugh enough you were in the shit, if you laughed too much you were in the shit too.”

In response to the claims in the BBC documentary, Harrods said it was “utterly shocked by the allegations of abuse committed by Mohamed Al Fayed”. It also acknowledged that “during this period as a company we have failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise”.

The statement said that since new information came to light in 2023 about historical allegations of sexual abuse by Fayed, Harrods’ priority has been to “resolve the claims as quickly as possible and avoid lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved”.

The process is still open to current and former staff members who have been affected, Harrods said.

Harrods has been approached for further comment on the recent allegation.

Extra precautions taken to protect Fulham female players

Fulham women’s team have taken extra measures to ensure the safety of their players in the presence of Fayed, a former manager of the team has claimed.

Fayed was the owner of Fulham FC between 1997 and 2013.

Gaute Haugenes, who led the team from 2001 to 2003, has said that staff members became aware that the then-owner “was into young, blonde girls”.

Mr Haugenes told the BBC that because of this agreement the players were not allowed to be left alone with Fayed.

“I read all the papers yesterday, of course, and to be honest, it’s not the biggest surprise,” he said.

“We knew he liked young, blonde girls. So we made sure that no situations could arise. We protected the players.”

In a statement on Friday, Fulham FC said: “We are deeply shocked and concerned to hear the disturbing reports following yesterday’s documentary. We have genuine empathy for the women who have shared their experiences.

“We are in the process of determining whether anyone at the club is or has been affected.”

The club encourages anyone with information or experiences relating to the allegations to contact them at [email protected] or the police.

Maria Mulla, a lawyer representing some of Fayed’s alleged victims, told reporters Friday that the legal team is not currently representing any staff or former staff members of FFC.

‘One of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation’

At a news conference on Friday, lawyers representing some 37 of Fayed’s alleged victims, including six Americans, three Canadians and victims from other countries including Malaysia, Australia, Romania and Italy, described the alleged sexual assaults as among the worst imaginable.

Lawyer Bruce Drummond said Harrods “must accept responsibility for the harm these women have suffered”.

“This is one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation that I and perhaps the world has ever seen. It was absolutely appalling,” Mr Drummond said.

Ms Mulla said there were “a number of more serious allegations” not mentioned in the documentary which included the “worst sexual assaults imaginable”.