Former Harrods proprietor Mohamed Al Fayed a ‘monster,’ say attorneys representing his alleged victims

The authorized workforce representing the alleged victims of the previous proprietor of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, say the late billionaire was a “monster” whose crimes have been “enabled” by the high-end division retailer.

No less than 37 ladies have accused Al-Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, of sexually assaulting them, barrister Dean Armstrong instructed reporters in London Friday. Armstrong mentioned Al-Fayad was a “monster” who dedicated a “huge internet of abuse.”

Setting out the authorized declare being introduced in opposition to Harrods, Armstrong mentioned Al-Fayad was “enabled by a system” that pervaded the shop.

“That is and was a scientific failure of company accountability, and that systematic failure is on the shoulders of Harrods,” Armstrong mentioned.

The authorized workforce concerned within the BBC investigation claimed Harrods knew of Al Fayed’s alleged crimes. The shop confirmed an “abject failure of company accountability, and a failure to supply a secure system of labor,” Armstrong mentioned.

The workforce known as the case “horrific,” evaluating it to that of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile who died in jail earlier than he might face trial on federal sex-trafficking fees, and of Jimmy Savile, a British tv persona who was revealed to a be a prolific sexual offender after his loss of life.

Barrister Bruce Drummond described the case as “one of many worst circumstances of company sexual exploitation that definitely I, and maybe the world, has ever seen.”

Harrods apologized to victims in an announcement Thursday, saying it was “totally appalled” by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by its former proprietor. The billionaire businessman owned the division retailer between 1985 and 2010.

Within the assertion, Harrods mentioned that “new info got here to gentle” final yr about historic allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by Al-Fayed.

Since then, it mentioned, “it has been our precedence to settle claims within the quickest manner attainable, avoiding prolonged authorized proceedings for the ladies concerned.”

It’s unclear if the present house owners shall be answerable for the alleged crimes dedicated beneath Harrods’ earlier possession, and whether or not they are going to be chargeable for compensating the alleged victims and survivors of abuse.

Talking on the information convention, Gloria Allred, a world-leading ladies’s rights lawyer who has represented ladies who mentioned they have been abused by Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, described Al-Fayed as “the epitome of a serial sexual abuser.”

The allegations in opposition to Al-Fayed embrace “serial rape, tried rape, sexual battery and sexual abuse of minors,” Allred detailed.

London’s Fulham Soccer Membership, which Al-Fayed owned between 1997 and 2013, mentioned in an announcement posted on X on Friday: “We’re deeply troubled and anxious to study of the disturbing stories following yesterday’s documentary. We’ve got honest empathy for the ladies who’ve shared their experiences.”

It added that it was working to ascertain whether or not anybody on the membership had been affected.

The Egyptian-born Al-Fayed was a fixture of the enterprise and celeb world in Britain throughout his life. Al Fayed’s son, Dodi Fayed, died in 1997 together with Princess Diana in a high-speed automobile crash in Paris.

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report.

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