BUSINESS TIMES
More than three dozen people have brought 40 new allegations of sexual abuse and rape against Mohamed Al Fayed since a documentary aired last month about the late billionaire owner of Harrods department store in London, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Since the BBC documentary was broadcast and law enforcement appealed to other victims to come forward, “detectives have received numerous pieces of information, predominantly relating to the activities of Mohamed Al Fayed but some relating to the actions of others,” Commander Stephen Clayman said.
“This has led to us record 40 new allegations, relating to 40 victim-survivors and covering offenses including sexual assault and rape across a time period between 1979 and 2013. These are in addition to allegations we were aware of prior to the broadcast,” he said.
The BBC documentary on Al Fayed, who died last year at 94, included testimony from Harrods employees alleging years of sexual abuse by the Egyptian businessman.
The Metropolitan Police said the new reports will be assessed to determine whether there are any allegations of criminal behavior that can be pursued.
“We also continue work to make contact with lawyers representing individuals who have come directly to them, to ensure they are aware of our request to speak to police so any crimes can be recorded and the relevant support provided,” Clayman said in the statement, noting that criminal proceedings cannot be brought against someone who is dead.
But the investigation will explore whether criminal charges can be pursued against others.
The police said they had identified 21 separate allegations about Al Fayed before the BBC broadcast going back to 2005.
Of those, four contained allegations of rape, 16 of sexual assault and one related to trafficking.
It said no further action was taken against Al Fayed from the 21 allegations.
Harrods said it is in talks with more than 200 women to settle claims they were sexually abused by Al Fayed after the allegations were revealed in the documentary.
The BBC also said another 65 women have contacted them about Al Fayed, with some of the allegations dating back to 1977.
Some of the women told the broadcaster that they were recruited by Al Fayed using false pretenses to work on his domestic staff and were later sexually assaulted.
