Prosecutor says Mohamed al Fayed was a ‘predator’ who ‘predated the most vulnerable’ | UK News

According to one of his alleged victims, Mohamed al Fayed was a “predator” who “predated on the most vulnerable”.

Lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse called the billionaire a “monster enabled by a system that has penetrated Harrods” at a news conference in London.

Dean Armstrong KC said the case combines “some of the most appalling elements” from the likes of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.

The Egyptian-born businessman, who died last year At the age of 94, he took over the reins of the luxury department store in 1985 and later expanded his business interests to include the Paris Ritz and Fulham Football Club.

One of his alleged victims, Natacha, said she was a “young, naive and completely innocent” 19-year-old girl when she moved to London.

She believed she had been given “the chance of a lifetime” when she got a job at Harrods in central London and felt “completely innocent” when she was offered extra money and gifts to take home to her parents.

“Without knowing it, I had entered a lion’s den, a den of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation and serious sexual misconduct,” said Natacha, who described Fayed as a “predator” who “preys on the most vulnerable”.

She said she was called to Fayed’s private apartment one evening “on the pretext of a job interview” after which “the door was locked behind me.”

“I saw his bedroom door halfway open — there were sex toys on display,” she said. “I felt petrified. I sat all the way on the end of the couch and then … my boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself into me.”

‘Scared and sick’

Natacha said he laughed at her after she kicked herself free and told her to “never talk to anyone about this”, leaving her feeling “scared and sick”.

More than 20 former female employees have said they faced assaults and physical violence at properties in London and Paris. research published by the BBC.

Read more: Egyptian tycoon never far from controversy

Five of the women have said they were raped by Fayed, while another woman has now come forward to claim she was the victim of a “repulsive” sexual assault by the billionaire.

Harrods said in a statement on Thursday that it was “deeply shocked” by the allegations of abuse and apologized to Fayed’s alleged victims.

The department store has also set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward with any allegations they may have.

The legal team involved in a civil claim against Harrods over alleged failure to provide a safe working environment for its employees said it wanted justice for victims of a “vast web of abuse”.

‘Business operations’

Attorney Bruce Drummond told the news conference that it was “one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation” that he and “perhaps the world has ever seen.”

Most of the victims were between 19 and 24 years old, while some were as young as 15 or 16. They were specially selected for their roles and then had to submit to a private invasive medical examination, lawyers said.

According to US attorney Gloria Allred, who represented accusers of Weinstein, R. Kelly and Bill Cosby, the allegations include serial rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse of minors.

She said there was “something rotten at the core of Harrods”, where “beneath the glitz and glamour lurked a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment”.

The alleged attacks are said to have taken place at the department store in London, the Ritz in Paris and the former residence of the Duke of Windsor in the French capital.

‘Terrorism was reinforced by threats’

Lawyers said they were aware of the allegations from employees at Fayed’s other companies and that they represent women who worked at the Ritz.

“He used his wealth and power to manipulate and control female victims for his own sexual pleasure,” Ms. Allred said.

Most of his alleged victims were “terrified and felt they had nowhere to turn,” she said. “Their terror was compounded by threats, surveillance and phone tapping.”

Read more from Sky News:
Warning for large hail and storms
Woman, 70, admits causing her baby’s death

Armstrong said the allegation showed a “serious failure of corporate social responsibility” at Harrods and that “it is time they took responsibility”.

“This case combines some of the most appalling elements of the Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein cases,” he said.

“Savile because in this case, as in that case, the institution, we say, was aware of the conduct.

“Epstein, because in that case, as in this case, there was a system of recruitment and selection to find the women and girls. As you know, these are very young victims.

“And Weinstein, because it was a person at the top of the organization who abused his power.

“We will say outright that Mohamed al Fayed was a monster.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up to date with the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Click here

Fayed was previously accused of sexually abusing and groping several women, but a 2015 police investigation resulted in no charges.

He waged a long campaign after the deaths of his son, film producer Dodi Fayed, and Princess Diana in 1997. He claimed that the car crash in Paris was not an accident, but orchestrated by British security services.

‘Completely shocked’

Harrods said in a statement: “We are deeply shocked by the allegations of abuse made by Mohamed al Fayed.

“These were the actions of an individual who sought to abuse his power wherever he operated. We strongly condemn these actions.

“We also recognize that as a company we have failed our employees who were victims of this act during this time and for that we offer our sincere apologies.

“The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one Fayed owned and led between 1985 and 2010. It is an organisation that puts the wellbeing of its employees at the heart of everything we do.

“That is why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historical allegations of sexual abuse by Fayed, our priority has been to resolve the claims as quickly as possible and avoid lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved.”

Kevin Southworth, Commander of the Metropolitan Police, said: “We are aware of several allegations of sexual offences made in recent years concerning the deceased Mohamed al Fayed which have been reported to the Met.

“Everyone was investigated and, where necessary, advice was sought from the Crown Prosecution Service. No charges have resulted from these investigations.”