Until now, to Mohamed Al-Fayed He was known not only for the considerable fortune that he had amassed throughout his long life – he was the owner of the Harrods department store and the Ritz Hotel in Paris, among other businesses – but also for being the ‘father of courage’ who stood up to the British Crown to know the truth behind of the death of his son Dodi Al-Fayed and Diana of Walesin the Alma tunnel, on the tragic early morning of August 31, 1997. However, that image has been completely tarnished after an investigation led by the BBC in which dozens of women have made public their complaints against the tycoondied at the age of ninety-four on August 30, 2023, from rape and continuous sexual abuse.
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© GETTY IMAGESBritish society is shocked by the course of the investigations. What began as the testimony of a few women for the documentary and podcast Al-Fayed: predator at Harrods has ended up being the tip of the iceberg of an intricate case of abuse and silence comparable to that of Hollywood producer Harvey Weisntein who is currently serving time in Rikers prison.
With all this media storm, the most famous department store in the United Kingdom, whose history dates back to the time of Queen Victoria, live your darkest days. The current owners have stated that they feel “absolutely dismayed” for the accusations against Mohamed Al-Fayedowner of the firm from 1985 to 2010. Although they know that it is too late for this, they have apologized to the victims, the vast majority of whom were company workers, whom, as they have said, they did not know how to protect.
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© GETTY IMAGESSince they began to pull this scandalous thread, the number of complainants continues to increasecurrently standing at around thirty-seven women, of which five have confirmed that they were raped by the magnate. As the days go by, the snowball gets bigger and the chilling stories of the alleged victims surprise not only because of the dimension of the crime, but because it has been able to remain hidden until now. While it is true that there are those who say that Mohamed Al-Fayed’s inappropriate conduct with his employees It was an “open secret”until these days few had raised their voices to denounce it and, those who did, did not achieve the media impact they wanted.
Currently, several employees and former employees have dared to tell what they saw and experienced during the decades of the absolute power of Mohamed Al-Fayed at Harrods. Tony Leemingmanager from 1994 to 2004, has stated in this regard: “I was aware of the abuse of women when I worked in warehouses (…). It wasn’t even a secret.” However, Leeming has made it clear that he never suspected the extreme to which the billionaire had gone and that, therefore, he was unaware of the existence of physical attacks and rapes, although he had noticed his excessive liking for some of his workers: ” If I knew it, everyone knew it. Anyone who says no is lying.
© GETTY IMAGESEamon Coyle, Harrods detective and deputy director of security at the firm from 1989 to 1995, has not been left behind in his assessments: “We were aware that he had a very strong interest in young girls.”
For his part, Michael Ward, who worked for four years with Mohamed Al-Fayed and who was appointed by him as the current CEO of Harrods, has made public the following statement: “(Mohamed Al-Fayed) ran this company as his personal fiefdom “It is now clear that he established a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of retaliation and sexual misconduct.” Ward, like Leeming, has clarified that he was “not aware” of how far his boss’s omnivorous power could go.
Those who did know, and have expressed it in most cases anonymously, have been the women who have narrated, some in front of the cameras and others behind them, his terrifying and traumatic experience after being carefully “selected” and “chosen” by the almighty Mohamed Al-Fayed.
His ‘modus operandi’
Bruce Drummond, one of the lawyers representing several of the women who are speaking out against the abuses committed by billionaire Al-Fayed, described the situation at Harrods as follows: “The web of corruption and abuse in this company was incredible and very dark“Many former employees, without wanting to reveal their identity, agreed with Mohamed Al-Fayed’s ‘modus operandi’: he walked the corridors of the different floors of Harrods and looked for those employees who were most attractive to him. He immediately promoted them and He took them to work in his offices, many of them as personal assistants. A witness, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed a chilling fact: “We all looked at each other as we walked through that door thinking: ‘Poor girl, today it’s you,’ and we felt completely helpless to stop it.”
Once the ‘victim’ was chosen, according to eyewitnesses of the events and the women themselves who suffered the abuse, the nightmare began. The attacks allegedly occurred not only in the London offices of Harrods, but also in the luxurious apartment that Mohamed Al-Fayed He had it in the exclusive Mayfair neighborhood, at the Ritz hotel in Paris, which he owned, or in a destination like Abu Dhabi or Saint-Tropez.
© GETTY IMAGESDean Armstrong, another of the lawyers advising the plaintiffs, He did not hesitate to describe Al-Fayed as a “monster”an appellation that immediately recalls the one used to refer to, among others, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. Furthermore, Armstrong has gone a step further and puts the finger of blame not only on the late Mohamed Al-Fayed but also on his company’s policy: “We believe that the system not only allowed, but possibly facilitated, widespread sexual abuse.”
Once again, if all these aspects are confirmed, it is surprising that someone could maintain such a double life for so many years: on the one hand, Mohamed Al-Fayed had a reputation as charming and respectable, as a self-made businessman, sociable, funny and curious. ; and, on the other hand, maintained for decades that dark and sordid sidewhich scares and disturbs.
The law of silence
Although it is true that this is not the first time that his name has been linked to complaints of sexual abuse, it does seem that, now, for the first time, victims are being legally assisted, whose number is only growing. Since 1995, Mohamed Al-Fayed was suspected of engaging in inappropriate behavior. In 1997, through the ITV network, some of its possible victims were given a voice, which again found an echo on Channel 4, in 2017, but there was always something that managed to silence the rumors and let them stay that way, simple rumors.
While he lived, Mohamed Al-Fayed’s power was untouchableand their alleged crimes went unpunished. After his death, the fear that he had imposed over the years disappeared and, with it, the law of silence that he enforced around him.
© GETTY IMAGESHis life before 1964 was always a mystery.date on which he arrived in Great Britain. Some say that he began selling soft drinks on the streets of Alexandria; others who offered sewing machines from house to house; later he married Samira Khashoggisister of a well-known arms dealer and became an advisor to the Sultan of Brunei; He decided to add the article Al- to his surname to make it sound more noble; He flirted with the British Royal Family, although the Windsors always had him under suspicion; He struggled unsuccessfully to discover the truth behind the death of his heir, Dodi Al-Fayedand who could have been his daughter-in-law, Diana Spencer; and forged a fortune of 2.2 billion euros, according to Forbesmoney he left upon his death.
In the BBC documentary, a woman says that for Al-Fayed all Harrods workers They were his “toys”: “We were very scared. He actively cultivated fear. If he said ‘jump’, the employees would have just asked: ‘How high?” The silence that so many people maintained all these years was due to the fear they had of reprisals. Mohamed Al-Fayed believed he was untouchable and everyone thought he had the power to always get his way. However, his image as a respectable man is shaken; If all the harsh testimonies against him are confirmed, we could see him sink for posterity.
