Met police opens investigation into Mohamed Al Fayed’s associates
Force looking into those suspected of being ‘complicit in offending’ of late Harrods owner
London’s Metropolitan police have opened an investigation into associates of Mohamed Al Fayed who “may have assisted or facilitated” the late billionaire owner of Harrods in alleged rapes and sexual assaults.
A dedicated unit within the force has been conducting a review of past investigations into Al Fayed, who died in 2023, to see if any opportunities to bring him to justice were missed.
The Met said on Wednesday it had been contacted by 90 “new victims,” some reporting multiple offences, since the BBC broadcast a documentary in September detailing crimes that the Egyptian-born billionaire allegedly carried out against former Harrods employees.
As a result of their assessment so far, detectives have launched an investigation into “a number of individuals associated with Al Fayed” and are working to establish “what roles those individuals may have played in assisting and facilitating” his offending, the Met said.
It added that it was working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and would be seeking early advice on the potential for pressing charges.
“This investigation is about giving survivors a voice, despite the fact that Mohamed Al Fayed is no longer alive to face prosecution. However, we are now pursuing any individuals suspected to have been complicit in his offending, and we are committed to seeking justice,” said Stephen Clayman, of the Met’s specialist command unit.
The Egyptian-born billionaire, whose son Dodi was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 alongside Diana, the late Princess of Wales, bought Harrods in 1985 and sold it in 2010.
Between 2005 and 2023 the Met approached the Crown Prosecution Service about Al Fayed on five occasions, it has said previously, and passed on “full files of evidence” in 2009 and 2015. No further action was taken by the CPS.
On Wednesday, the force said that while past investigations were extensive and conducted by specialist teams, the contact and support of victims could “have been improved”.
Two cases have been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct following complaints from two women about the quality of investigations conducted in 2008, it said.
Most of the women interviewed by the BBC, who worked at Harrods from the late 1980s to the 2000s, said alleged assaults were carried out at the company’s offices, in Al Fayed’s London apartment or on trips abroad.
In the documentary, the BBC gathered evidence that Harrods failed to intervene and also helped to cover up allegations against Al Fayed. The retailer said it had accepted “vicarious liability for the conduct of Al Fayed” and had reached settlements “with the vast majority of people” who approached it.
Specialist police teams have now reviewed more than 50,000 pages of evidence, including victim and impact statements, and retrieved significant amounts of material from the archives, the Met said.
“We are aware that past events may have impacted the public’s trust and confidence in our approach, and we are determined to rebuild that trust by addressing these allegations with integrity and thoroughness,” Clayman said.