Another 65 Women Accuse Mohamed Al-Fayed of Sexual Abuse
The number of sexual abuse allegations against the late billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed is growing, with 65 more women contacting the BBC to tell their stories within the last month.
Of those, 37 reportedly said they worked at Harrods, the luxury London department store that Al-Fayed owned and which he allegedly used as his hunting ground. Others identified themselves as ex-members of his household staff, and one accused the businessman—who died last year, at the age of 94—of misconduct as early as 1977.
Al-Fayed, whose son Dodi died alongside Princess Diana in her fatal Paris car crash, owned Harrods between 1985 and 2010. When the BBC aired its investigations into his alleged predation last month, the broadcaster spoke with more than 20 women whose experiences helped establish a pattern of behavior that spanned those two-plus decades: According to former staff, Al-Fayed would follow and threaten women who worked at the store—in particular, young sales assistants whom he would then shuttle to his office—subjecting them to gynecological exams as a condition of employment.