London police said Friday that 40 more women have made allegations of rape or sexual assault against Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed since the BBC last month aired the claims of several former employees of the London department store.
The Metropolitan Police said it had received allegations “involving 40 victims and covering offenses including sexual assault and rape” that occurred between 1979 and 2013.
They are in addition to the 21 women who reported to the police between 2005 and 2023 in connection with allegations of sexual offenses brought against the businessman. He was never prosecuted and died last year at the age of 94.
Police urged Al Fayed's victims and anyone with information about the crimes to report it. Chief Stephen Clayman said detectives would review the information “to see if there are any allegations of criminal offenses that could be pursued.”
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Police and Harrods executives face questions over why action was not taken against Al Fayed during his lifetime. In 2008, he was questioned by detectives in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old, and in 2009 and 2015 the police transferred evidence relating to him to the Crown Prosecution Service. He was never charged.
Harrods' current managing director, Michael Ward, said last month that the store was “deeply sorry” for the failed staff. He said it was clear that Al Fayed “predated a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussions and sexual misconduct.”
Al Fayed's family has not commented on the situation.
The Egyptian-born businessman moved to Britain in the 1960s and in the mid-1980s bought Harrods, an upscale shopping center in London's stylish Knightsbridge district. Al Fayed sold Harrods in 2010 to a Qatari-owned company through its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.
He became a famous figure thanks to his ownership of the store and the London football team Fulham. He frequently made headlines after his son Dodi died along with Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
For years, Al Fayed promoted the conspiracy theory that the royal family arranged the accident because they disapproved of Diana's relationship with an Egyptian.
An investigation determined that Diana and Dodi died as a result of the reckless actions of their driver – an employee of Al Fayed's Ritz hotel in Paris – and the paparazzi who pursued the pair. Separate investigations in the UK and France also found no conspiracy.
