More than 400 alleged victims have so far contacted the legal team working on a case against the late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of sexual abuse and rape, lawyer Dean Armstrong said on Thursday.

A BBC documentary in September revealed Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, sexually abused female staff at his London department store Harrods, forced them to have medical screenings and threatened consequences if they tried to complain.

“The sheer scale of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed, and facilitated by those around him, sadly, continues to grow,” Armstrong told a news conference in London.

Al Fayed always denied similar accusations raised by other reports before his death.

When asked for a response, Harrods pointed Reuters to its past statements on the allegations, in which it has apologised, said it was “appalled” by them and that it had launched a process for any current or former Harrods employees who wish to claim compensation.

Another lawyer, Bruce Drummond, said the more than 400 claims have been made by women from around the world, mostly from Britain but also from the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and other countries.

“That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale abuse,” Drummond said, adding abuse took place “within the walls of Harrods” but also in other locations linked to Al Fayed’s business empire, such as Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Paris and his estate in Surrey.

Victims include the daughter of a former U.S. ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a well-known soccer player, Drummond said, without giving any names.

The BBC documentary said Harrods had failed to intervene and helped to cover up abuse allegations during his ownership.

Lawyers have criticised the Harrods-run compensation scheme, saying some of the victims do not feel comfortable to reach out to Harrods directly for compensation as that is where the abuse unfolded.

Drummond said some senior members of staff from the Al Fayed era still worked at Harrods.

The Financial Times last week reported that four alleged victims had quit the Harrods compensation scheme due to their concerns over potential conflicts of interest and poor communication.

Several media organisations had reported allegations of sexual abuse against Al Fayed before the BBC documentary, including Vanity Fair in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. Lawyers said in September many of the women only felt able to speak publicly in the BBC report after he died last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, the late former boss of Harrods accused of sexually assaulting scores of employees, has said the allegations had “thrown into question the loving memory I had of him”.

Lawyers say some 60 women have come forward to allege they were abused by Fayed, who died last year aged 94, following a television documentary in which women accused him of raping and sexually assaulting them.

“I am horrified and deeply concerned by the allegations recently brought to light against my late father,” said Omar Fayed in a statement.

“The extent and explicit nature of the allegations are shocking and has thrown into question the loving memory I had of him,” he said.

“How this matter could have been concealed for so long and in so many ways raises further disturbing questions,” he added.

The avalanche of accusations against the late Egyptian billionaire follow a BBC expose last week in which women recounted being targeted by Fayed when they worked for Harrods, the luxury department store in London he owned for 25 years.

His son said that although he loved his father “very much” and that he was a “wonderful dad, that aspect of our relationship… does not blind me from an objective assessment of circumstances”.

The alleged victims deserved “full transparency and accountability,” he added in a statement to Sky News late on Friday.

“I will continue to support the principles of truth, justice, accountability and fairness, regardless of where that journey may lead. No-one is above the law,” he said.

Fayed’s accusers say the assaults took place in his apartments in London and his properties in Paris, including the Ritz hotel.

Allegations include a repeated pattern of women who underwent a selection process for positions close to Fayed.

Once selected, they were subjected to an “invasive” gynaecological examination, the results of which were shared with Fayed.

The women said that when they tried to complain about their abuse, they were threatened by senior security staff, demoted and subjected to false allegations until they had “no choice” but to leave Harrods.

Fayed sold Harrods in 2010 to the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for a reported £1.5 billion ($2.2 billion).

He also owned Fulham Football Club and the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former Harrods boss Mohamed Al-Fayed, whose son Emad El-Din “Dodi” Mohamed Fayed was killed in a 1997 Paris car crash alongside Princess Diana, has been accused of multiple rapes. According to The BBC, five women have claimed that they were raped by the billionaire, who died last year aged 94, when they worked at the luxury London department store Harrods, which Al-Fayed owned from 1985 to 2010. The outlet revealed that it had heard testimonies from more than 20 former female staff members who claim the billionaire businessman sexually assaulted them, with the incidents allegedly taking place in London, St. Tropez, Abu Dhabi and Paris. 

The allegations were laid out in a BBC documentary, titled ‘Al-Fayed: Predator at Harrods’. The documentary revealed that during Fayed’s ownership, Harrods not only failed to intervene but helped cover up abuse allegations. 

In a statement, Harrods’ current owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed – for which the store apologised.

“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,” the statement read. “We also acknowledge that during this time as a business, we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise,” it added. 

According to The BBC, one woman has alleged that the billionaire raped her at his London apartment. “I made it obvious that I didn’t want that to happen. I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over,” she told the outlet. 

Another woman claimed that she was raped at the apartment in Mayfair when she was a teenager. “We were all scared. He actively cultivated fear,” she said. “If he said ‘jump’ employees would ask ‘how high’.”

A woman named Sophia, who worked as Fayed’s personal assistant from 1988 to 1991, says the billionaire tried to rape her more than once. “I couldn’t leave. I didn’t have a [family] home to go back to, I had to pay rent,” she said. “I knew I had to go through this and I didn’t want to. It was horrible and my head was scrambled,” she added. 

Another of his personal assistants, Gemma, who worked for Fayed from 2007 to 2009, claimed he raped her at Villa Windsor in Paris, a former home of King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson. She said that as part of the agreement for her leaving the job, she had to shred all evidence and sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in return for a sum of money. Ms Gemma told the outlet that a shredding truck came to her lawyer’s office and a member of HR from Harrods was present. 

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Tony Leeming, a former Harrods department manager of 10 years, said that he was aware of the abuse of women on the shop floor, but claimed he did not know about the allegations of assault or rape. Mr Leeming’s testimony is backed by former members of Fayed’s security team. 

“We were aware that he had this very strong interest in young girls,” said Eamon Coyle, who joined Harrods in 1979 as a store detective, then became deputy director of security from 1989-95.

Many women told the BBC that when they began working directly for Fayed they underwent medicals – including invasive sexual health tests carried out by doctors. The outlet also reported that before his death, the billionaire faced a number of sexual assault claims in 1997, 2008 and 2017.

Of the women the outlet spoke to for the investigation, a total of 14 have brought civil claims against Harrods for damages. The department store’s current owners started settling these in July 2023, according to the outlet. 

Notably, Fayed, born in Egypt, moved to the United Kingdom in 1974 and was already a well-known public figure when he took over Harrods in 1985. His son Dodi was killed in a car crash alongside Princess Diana in 1997. He has become known to a new generation through the two most recent Netflix series of ‘The Crown’.