Brother of late Harrods owner also accused of sexual violence: BBC

LONDON – Three women who formerly worked at Harrods accused the brother of their former boss Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual violence. hundreds of similar claims According to BBC news on November 14, a lawsuit was filed against the former owner of the luxury store in London.

The broadcaster said the late Salah Fayed attacked them when he co-owned the department store with his brother.

The women claimed that they were harassed in London, the south of France and Monaco between 1989 and 1997.

The report follows allegations of sexual assault, including rape, by hundreds of women in recent weeks against Egyptian former Harrods and Fulham Football Club owner Mohamed Al-Fayed.

Salah Fayed died in 2010 and Mohamed Al-Fayed died in 2023 at the age of 94.

Helen, one of three women behind the latest accusations and who waived her anonymity, told the BBC that Mohamed Al-Fayed had been working for the retailer for two years when he raped her during a business trip in Dubai in 1989. .

He then offered her a job as a personal assistant to his brother Salah, who she said drugged and raped her while she was unconscious.

Mohamed Al-Fayed “shared me with his brother,” he said.

He said he kept quiet about the experience by signing a confidentiality agreement, according to a document the BBC reported seeing.

The second woman said that Salah Fayed harassed her during a trip to Monaco, while the third woman, who was hired in 1997 when she was 19, said that she was sexually assaulted in his apartment in Monaco.

Contacted by AFP, Harrods said it “supported the courage of these women to come forward” and encouraged survivors to “come forward and make a claim to the company, which is offering compensation and counseling support”.

“We also hope they look at every avenue available to them in their pursuit of justice, whether it be through Harrods, the police, or the Fayed family and estate,” the company said.

On November 12, the New York Times published allegations that a victim accused Mohammed Al-Fayed’s other brother, Ali, 80, of knowing about the “trafficking” of women.

The allegations have increased since the release of the BBC documentary detailing Mohamed Al-Fayed’s alleged rape and sexual assault in September.

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had received more than 420 inquiries, primarily into the store, but also into Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and other Fayed establishments.

London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement earlier this month that it was “actively reviewing 21 allegations reported to the Metropolitan Police prior to the death of Mohamed Al-Fayed… to determine whether there are any additional investigative steps or whether there are things we could have done better.” AFP