Fulham FC and the Paris Ritz are now being probed for victims of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s ‘predatory behaviour’ – as lawyers warned the investigation into the suspected sex fiend would likely go global.
Five women have claimed they were raped by the Harrods tycoon, who died last year aged 94, and a further 20 female employees allege Al-Fayed sexually assaulted them.
‘Monster’ Al-Fayed allegedly forced some of his victims to take sexual health tests and left them ‘petrified’ while attempting to abuse them – with Harrods now standing accused of covering up the rape claims levelled against Al-Fayed.
So horrific was some of the alleged abuse suffered at the hands of Al-Fayed, those representing his victims compared him to notorious sex predators Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
But lawyers today warned the true extent of Al-Fayed’s alleged offending could go further, ‘with victims all over the world’ – with investigations now taking place at the Ritz in Paris and Fulham FC, which were both owned by the tycoon.
During a bombshell press conference on Friday, barristers admitted they were looking into the two other businesses, with barrister Maria Mulla telling journalists: ‘Wherever [Al-Fayed] went, there will be victims.’
It comes as it was last night revealed:
It’s understood legal experts are representing alleged female victims employed by the Ritz – which Al-Fayed bought in 1979 for $30 million.
Ms Mulla confirming that at this stage they did not represent any women who ‘sustained attacks’ at Al-Fayed’s former football club in Fulham.
Al-Fayed bought the west London club in 1997 and under his ownership they rose to the top half of the Premier League in the early 2000s, peaking in qualification for the Europa League. He sold the team in 2013.
A Fulham FC spokesperson said: ‘We are deeply troubled and concerned to learn of the disturbing reports following yesterday’s documentary. We have sincere empathy for the women who have shared their experiences.
‘We are in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is or has been affected. Should any person wish to share information or experiences relating to these allegations, we encourage them to contact the club at [email protected] or the police.’
A spokeswoman for the Ritz Paris said: ‘The Ritz Paris strongly condemns any form of behaviour that does not align with the values of the establishment.
‘The hotel upholds the highest standards of professionalism and has a steadfast commitment to fostering an environment where employees and guests are treated with respect and integrity.
‘The safety and wellbeing of our employees and guests are our absolute priority.’
Multiple women have already come forward to claim Al-Fayed sexually abused them in the Knightsbridge store and at his luxury properties in the UK and on foreign trips abroad.
Further claims were levelled at Harrods today, with lawyers saying the luxury retailed was plagued by a ‘toxic’ culture under Al-Fayed’s 25 years in charge, as the wealthy businessman ‘preyed upon… his own employees for his own sexual gratification’ and tried to ‘silence’ his vulnerable victims.
Barrister Dean Armstrong KC told the press conference the case of Al-Fayed ‘combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein’.
He said: ‘I have many years of practice… I have never seen a case as horrific as this.
‘This case combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
‘Savile because in this case, as in that, the institution, we say, knew about the behaviour.
‘Epstein because in that case, as in this, there was a procurement system in place to source the women and girls – as you know there are some very young victims.
‘And Weinstein, because it was a person at the very top of the organisation who was abusing his power.
‘We will say plainly, Mohamed Al-Fayed was a monster.’
More than 100 women have got in contact with the legal team representing some of Al Fayed’s accusers since the BBC documentary aired on Thursday evening, barrister Bruce Drummond said.
Mr Drummond revealed on Friday that there have been about 100 enquiries. The team is already representing 37 women.
Speaking earlier to reporters from across the global press, he added: ‘This is one of the worse cases of sexual exploitation that I and perhaps the world has ever seen.
‘It was horrific, just horrific. It’s horrific because of the acts carried out on these women and girls.
‘It was horrific because it was the system that procured them, enabling the abuse of these young women and its horrific, because the effect this sexual abuse and of Harrods’ institutional betrayal have had on our clients.’
It comes as one of Al Fayed’s alleged victims told the press conference how the billionaire businessman was ‘highly manipulative’ and left her ‘petrified’ as he abused her.
In chilling testimony, the woman – known as only Natacha – said joining Harrods was like ‘walking into a lion’s den’ and said Al-Fayed ‘preyed on the most vulnerable’.
‘Sick predator’ Mohamed Al-Fayed told his female staff to call him ‘papa’, one of his alleged victims has revealed.
The woman, who went by the name of Natacha, described the billionaire as a ‘monster’ who was ‘highly manipulative’.
‘He behaved like a father figure, often saying ‘call me papa’, often talking about his family and children, as if to make me feel safe around him.’
She continued: ‘Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion’s den, a layer of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation, and gross sexual misconduct.
‘The chairman preyed on the most vulnerable, those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn’t have parents to protect them.’
Branding Al-Fayed a ‘sick predator’, she said: ‘Mohamed was clever and highly manipulative.
Speaking about the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of Al-Fayed, Natacha continued: ‘Mohamed Al-Fayed, a sick predator, lured me in by using the same modus operandi he used time and time again.
‘I was subjected to Aids and STD testing without consent, and now believe in hindsight, I was checked for my purity.’
Speaking about what happened in meetings with Al-Fayed, Natacha said: ‘These private meetings turned into more of a forced kiss, his hands gripping your face to his lips or pulling you down on his lap, where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished.
‘These incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed.
‘Al-Fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened, but I was always reminded not to mention them to anyone.’
Mr Armstrong KC said it is time Harrods ‘took responsibility’ and ‘set matters right’.
He told the press conference: ‘We are here to say publicly and to the world, or to Harrods in front of the world, that it is time that they took responsibility, and it is time that they set matters right, and that is something they should do as soon as possible.
‘They need to face up to accept the responsibility, that they have full culpability for the abuse that these women suffered.
‘Today, we are going to set out our claim and how our claim shows an abject failure of corporate responsibility and a failure to provide a safe system of work.’
During the press conference, barrister Maria Mulla told how female workers were tormented and threatened by the billionaire alleged sex pest.
Women would often have to ‘speak in some kind of code’ and if female workers ever complained they would ‘receive threats along the lines of you will never work in London again’, the barrister said as she laid bare the horrifying accusations.
An alleged victim of billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed has revealed her terror at being called to his private apartment.
Natacha said she was summoned his luxury residence one night ‘on the pretext of a job review’.
Speaking at a press conference she said: ‘The door was locked behind me… I saw his bedroom door partially open – there were sex toys on view.
‘I felt petrified. I perched myself at the very end of the sofa and then… Mohamed Al-Fayed, my boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself onto me.’
Natacha said as Mr Al-Fayed was on top of her she managed to ‘kick free and free myself’.
She continued: ‘I ran towards the door. I told him I was meeting my father for dinner and he would be worried that I was late.
‘He laughed at me – he then composed himself and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was never to breathe a word of this to anyone – if I did I would never work in London again and he knew where my family lived. I felt scared and sick.’
Describing the threats, Ms Mulla said staff were told ‘I know where you and your family live’ by security officials allegedly working for Al-Fayed.
‘Often they would be demoted and false allegations made about them so they would have no choice but to leave Harrods,’ she added.
‘Threats were also made about police action by the security team.’
One woman who had the ‘courage and bravery’ to report her sexual assault in a written complaint was threatened hours later.
‘One woman we rep was sexually assaulted and she had the bravery and courage to raise this in a formal written complaint to Harrods.
‘On the same day the head of security, John Macnamara said, ‘you are a girl alone in London, someone could jump out the bushes at you or you could have a sudden accident,’ Ms Mulla said.
‘She of course did what she was told because she was absolutely petrified.’
Another woman tried to resign to ‘get away from it’, Ms Mulla added, claiming the victim had also been threatened.
US lawyer Gloria Allred told the press conference Harrods was a ‘toxic, unsafe and abusive environment’ under the chairmanship of Mohamed Al-Fayed.
She said: ‘The allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed include serial rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and sexual abuse of minors. They involved doctors administering invasive gynaecological exams as a condition of employment for some of the employees who were targeted by Mohamed Al-Fayed for sexual abuse.
‘The allegations also include the unauthorised disclosure to Mohamed Al-Fayed of the examination results of employees he targeted for sexual abuse.
‘The allegations involve cover-ups, threats and a quarter of a century of sexual abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed after he purchased Harrods and became its chairman.
‘Harrods is often referred to as the most beautiful store in the world… many women dreamed of working there, to be associated with this prestigious corporation and to further their careers.
‘However, underneath the Harrods glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment.’
And in a bombshell statement, lawyers claimed that further probes had been launched into potential crimes by the retail tycoon at other places he was linked to.
Questioned on whether employees at other businesses owned by Al-Fayed, such as Fulham Football Club, were also allegedly subject to sexual abuse, barrister Maria Mulla said: ‘Yes, we are aware of allegations that have been made at other places of work.
‘We also represent women who were employed by the Ritz.
‘We don’t at this stage represent any women who, for instance, sustained attacks at Fulham Football Club.
‘But our investigations are obviously ongoing into all these entities that he had an involvement in.’
She said investigations so far had revealed a ‘startling’ number of women from Harrods involved in the alleged abuse by the Egyptian.
While he could be charismatic, gregarious and kind, the Mohamed Al-Fayed is accused of hiding a dark side to his character which saw him abuse dozens of women.
Women who have spoken out against the Egyptian businessman claim he imposed a ‘culture of fear’ at Harrods.
The chairman of the world famous department store, is accused of ‘scaring’ the people who worked under him into silence and carrying out his bidding.
One woman, who claimed she was raped by Al-Fayed as a teenager, said he treated staff as ‘playthings’.
She told the BBC: ‘Mohamed Al-Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever.
‘We were all so scared. He actively cultivated fear. If he said ‘jump’, employees would ask, ‘How high?”
The abuse was not just confined to the Knightsbridge store, with one alleged victim saying he was even more monstrous on work trips abroad.
She described how Al-Fayed raped her at Villa Windsor, the former home of King Edward VIII in Paris.
The woman, called Gemma, told the BBC she woke up to find him getting into her bed, saying: ‘I told him, ‘No, I don’t want you to’.’
She added: ‘I think Mohamed Al-Fayed is a rapist – he is a serial rapist.’
‘It’s highly unlikely that there are not victims out there from these other places of work – wherever he went, there will be victims,’ the lawyer told reporters.
Barrister Dean Armstrong KC told the press conference ‘this is and was a systematic failure of corporate responsibility’.
‘And that systematic failure is on the shoulders of Harrods,’ he said.
He added that compensation from Harrods for women who have claimed sexual abuse against Mohamed Al-Fayed would be ‘welcome’.
If Harrods feel that they ought to compensate women financially for what they’ve done and how they failed them, then of course that is something which we would welcome,’ he told the conference.
‘But we are not going to sit here and accept any suggestion that we are only interested in money.
‘This is about much, much, much more.’
Asked about the global scope of the case, barrister Bruce Drummond told the news conference the ‘scope of this case is vast’ and listed countries were Mohamed Al-Fayed’s accusers are from.
He said some of the women are from Malaysia, , Italy, Romania, the US and Canada.
The revelation comes as the boss of Harrods apologised for the firm ‘failing’ its employees after sex abuse allegations against late owner Al-Fayed, a leaked memo reveals.
Managing director Michael Ward has written to staff as a BBC investigation revealed five female ex-employees accused Fayed of raping them – admitting that Harrods ‘failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise’.
Mr Ward has told current staff in his internal message they would receive ‘the support you need during this incredibly difficult time’, as he described Fayed as ‘abusing his power wherever he operated’.
Some of those involved claim they were coerced into undergoing invasive medical exams in which they were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, with the results being sent directly to Al-Fayed himself.
Harrowing details of the accusations, including vivid descriptions of the alleged rapes by the women, were shown on a new programme called Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods – along with claims the firm itself not only failed to intervene to help the alleged victims but also covered up their claims.
Bruce Drummond, a barrister representing some of the former employees, said: ‘The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark.
‘Any place of work has a duty to ensure the safety of its employees. Without question, the company failed these ladies.
‘That’s why we step in. Because they just did nothing to actually prevent this. They did the opposite. They enabled it.’
And now in his memo to staff, Mr Ward wrote: ‘You may be aware of the BBC documentary, and the accompanying podcast, concerning allegations of misconduct by Harrods’ former owner and Chairman, the late Mohamed Al-Fayed during his period of ownership of Harrods from 1985 to 2010.
‘We know that the content and detail outlined within the documentary is extremely upsetting to watch, for those in the business at the time of the alleged behaviour, and for those that have joined the business since.
‘We wanted to reach out to you directly to let you know how we have responded, and what we have been doing separately to support the victims of Al-Fayed, and ensure that you, our colleagues, have the support you need during this incredibly difficult time.
‘As our response to the BBC outlined, we are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al-Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated, and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.
‘The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al-Fayed between 1985 and 2010. This is why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al-Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved.
‘This process is still available for any current or former Harrods colleagues. While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today.’
He urged anyone affected and still working at Harrods to contact its human resources department, while also sharing contact details for help services including confidential helplines and sexual harassment support officers.
Mr Ward added: ‘This is an extremely difficult time for us as a business. My ask is that you continue to look out for your teams and yourselves, and seek the support you require from colleagues and from the business.
‘My final point is that this is an issue of extreme sensitivity to many. I ask that you treat this issue with the compassion and sensitivity that it warrants, both inside the business and in your personal lives.’
The alleged attacks are said to have happened not only in London including at his Mayfair flat in the capital but also in Paris, at the Ritz hotel which he owned, and St Tropez in France as well as Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Rachel, not her real name, told the BBC she was raped after staying at one of Mr Al-Fayed’s apartments after a late shift at work.
She said: ‘I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen. I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over.
‘I remember feeling his body on me, the weight of him. Just hearing him make these noises. And just going somewhere else in my head.’
Another woman told of being raped at the Mayfair address as a teenager, describing staff at Harrods as being treated as his ‘playthings’.
She said: ‘Mohamed Al-Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever.
‘We were all so scared. He actively cultivated fear. If he said ‘jump’, employees would ask, ‘How high?”
One of his alleged victims was named as Gemma, who worked for Al-Fayed as a personal assistant between 2007 and 2009 – and tells how his behaviour would turn more scary during work trips abroad.
She says he raped her at Villa Windsor in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne, a former home of post-abdication King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson.
She described waking up to find him attempting to get into bed with her, adding: ‘I told him, ‘No, I don’t want you to’.
‘And he proceeded to just keep trying to get in the bed, at which point he was kind of on top of me and [I] really couldn’t move anywhere.
‘I was kind of face down on the bed and he just pressed himself on me.’ She added: ‘I think Mohamed Al-Fayed is a rapist – he is a serial rapist.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, Gemma said she ‘didn’t feel safe’ around Al-Fayed after the attack and said she ‘would have been too frightened’ to get justice while the tycoon was alive.
She claimed Mr Al-Fayed started sexually harassing her ‘immediately’ after she started her role at his charitable foundation, by making sexual remarks and groping her.
She told the Today programme that Mr Al-Fayed tried to come into her room on multiple work trips and spoke of locking herself in rooms and bathrooms and ignoring him when he would come to her door.
This was then followed by the alleged rape during a work trip to Paris.
Gemma said he directed her to clean herself afterwards, adding: ‘Looking back now I’m older, more mature, I realise that that was probably to cover up anything, any kind of evidence, anything that would have left his trace on me.’
She said she felt ‘terrified’ afterwards.
‘In Paris, there were security guards patrolling the house, there were security guards outside the house, we were locked in a gated property, we’d been escorted there that day by the police, so I felt like I couldn’t even go to the police, even if I could make my way out of the property,’ she told Radio 4.
‘I couldn’t even contemplate leaving the country because he had my passport, so my only way to leave was with him back on that private jet back to London.’