Former Harrods boss Mohamed al Fayed accused of rape

Dozens of women person accused the erstwhile proprietor of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, of intersexual assault, with lawyers saying the precocious billionaire was "a monster."

At slightest 37 women from each implicit the satellite person travel guardant with allegations of maltreatment involving the Egyptian billionaire. Al Fayed died past twelvemonth astatine the property of 94.

Al Fayed is accused of sexually assaulting, raping and attempting to rape aggregate women — including minors — hired arsenic his secretaries and idiosyncratic assistants astatine the Knightsbridge section store.

Lawyers are representing aggregate erstwhile Harrods employees person accused Mohamed Al Fayed of rape and intersexual assaultImage: Yui Mok/AP Photo/picture alliance

Allegations of maltreatment implicit a 25-year period

At a property briefing successful London connected Friday — successful the aftermath of a BBC documentary "Al-Fayed: Predator At Harrods," — lawyers representing immoderate of the women said they were victims of "systematic abuse" implicit 25 years "within the cognition of Harrods," which Al Fayed sold successful 2010.

Harrods, the high-end section store successful London, said successful a statement that it was "utterly appalled by the allegations of maltreatment perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed" and said that they "were the actions of an idiosyncratic intent connected abusing his power."

Harrods said that portion it couldn't undo the past, it was "determined to bash the close happening arsenic an organisation" and urged immoderate existent oregon erstwhile worker who had been victims of intersexual maltreatment to interaction them.

Dean Armstrong, a lawyer representing the 37 women, said determination was an "abject nonaccomplishment of firm work and a nonaccomplishment to supply a harmless strategy astatine work."

"He was a monster enabled by the system," Armstrong told a quality conference.

Over the years, determination person been galore accusations of intersexual harassment against Al Fayed. Former Harrod's employees person successful the past told respective British quality outlets that helium would people young, charismatic pistillate unit members.

Attacks alleged to person taken spot astatine Al Fayed's properties

The assaults allegedly took spot successful his apartments successful London and astatine his properties successful Paris, including the Ritz hotel, which helium besides owned.

Fayed was likened to disgraced precocious financier Jeffrey Epstein "because determination was a procurement strategy successful spot to root the women and girls for abuse" and fallen Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein due to the fact that helium was "at the apical of the organization."

Armstrong said determination were besides similarities to the precocious pedophile BBC children's tv presenter Jimmy Savile, due to the fact that "the institution, we say, knew astir the behavior."

Al Fayed was a arguable fig implicit the years who had accused the British Royal Family of complicity successful the deaths of his lad Dodi and Princess Diana successful a Paris passageway successful 1997.

kb/sms (AFP,AP)