Topline
The London-based department store Harrods said Thursday it is “utterly appalled” by allegations of sexual assault and rape against its former owner Mohamed Al Fayed, the late billionaire whose former employees outlined decades of alleged abuse in a new documentary.
Key Facts
More than 20 former Harrods employees accused Al Fayed—who died last year at age 94—of sexual assault, rape and violence between the late 1980s and 2000s in interviews with the BBC, which documented the allegations in a new documentary, “Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods.”
Harrods said in a statement Al Fayed was an “individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated,” adding they also acknowledged “that during this time as a business, we failed our employees who were his victims and for this, we sincerely apologize.”
Last year, new unspecified information “came to light” about allegations against Al Fayed, Harrods said, and since then the department store has tried to “settle claims in the quickest way possible” to avoid “lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved.”
According to the documentary, police investigated allegations of rape against Al Fayed in 2015 but did not press charges, while another woman said she went to the police in 2018 and was told Al Fayed was too old to be prosecuted.
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Other former Harrods employees indicated the department store was aware of Al Fayed’s abuse, including one who noted his alleged behavior was “known around the whole company.”
Forbes Valuation
We estimated Al Fayed’s net worth at $2 billion as of April 2023, four months before his death. Al Fayed owned Harrods for 26 years before selling the department store to Qatar for $2.4 billion in 2010. He later sold the Fulham F.C. soccer team to billionaire Shahid Khan for $300 million in 2013.
Key Background
Al Fayed has faced allegations of sexual assault for more than a decade, including after his sale of Harrods. The late billionaire reportedly denied sexual assault allegations in 2008 after being questioned by police, though it was not known at the time whether Al Fayed was under investigation. In 2018, an investigation by Channel 4 alleged Al Fayed sexually assaulted three former Harrods employees and had tried to groom them, though he denied the claims. Harrods said at the time Al Fayed attended an interview with police to “categorically refute” involvement in an alleged assault. Vanity Fair reported other allegations against Al Fayed in 1995, indicating former employees were subjected to verbal abuse, including “humiliating comments about their appearance or dress.”
Tangent
Al Fayed’s son, Dodi, died in a car crash with Princess Diana in 1997. Al Fayed accused the Royal Family of their deaths, arguing without evidence Diana was bearing Dodi’s child and that the family did not want Diana to marry a Muslim.
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