Three women have accused Mohamed Al Fayed's only surviving brother of sexually assaulting them while they worked at Harrods. The former employees of the luxury store say Ali Fayed, 82, targeted them in the 1990s in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the United States. A spokesperson for the businessman, who lives in the US, said he "will not be scapegoated" and that he "unequivocally denies any and all the allegations of wrongdoing" and that "the incidents simply never took place".
A former interior designer for Harrods has told the BBC that one assault happened on a work trip while she was staying with Ali Fayed and his family at their former home in Connecticut. "His hands were everywhere," she said, and he stopped because "one of his little boys started calling for him". She said Mohamed Al Fayed would regularly grab her breasts and humiliate her in the workplace before tasking her with helping to renovate his Scottish Balnagown Estate.
It was in Ali's office in Park Lane where the second woman says she was first assaulted by the younger sibling, with him "trying to kiss" her, followed by him "groping" and "molesting" her. She said both Fayed brothers would regularly give her gifts. "With Mohamed, it would often be wads of cash, Ali would give jewellery or clothes. It would be a see-saw between abusive behaviour then praise for my work and these lavish items." The abuse worsened in 1992, when she flew to Connecticut to help decorate Ali Fayed's US home, it is claimed.
She said she was staying in a guest room at the family's house when Ali Fayed told her to get changed for dinner one evening. "I was in the bathroom and got undressed. When I came out in my underwear, he [Ali] was just standing there in the room. I hadn't heard him come in or knock." She said Ali Fayed got her on the bed and tried to get on top of her. His hands were "inside my bra, inside my pants. I knew what his intention was".
The woman said the alleged attack stopped when one of his children called out for him. A spokesperson for Ali Fayed told the BBC the businessman "is not a perpetrator" and will "robustly defend himself against these unsubstantiated claims". The woman claims she was eventually fired for being in a relationship with another employee. Harrods later settled a case she brought for unfair dismissal, the BBC reports. She said: "To this day I suffer with terrible anxiety and panic attacks and I don't like people in my space," she says.
A second woman, who worked as a personal assistant to Mohamed Al Fayed for almost three years, said he sexually abused her throughout her time at Harrods. She said he let himself into her room on a work trip to Paris and tried to rape her. It was while staying at the Fayed family ski chalet in the upmarket Swiss resort of Gstaad that she says Ali assaulted her at a local swimming pool. She said: "He pulled me in under the water, and groped and fondled me, making me feel very, very uncomfortable - very much trapped. I was terrified thinking how am I going to get out of this." The woman claimed that Ali Fayed laughed as he "groped" her, before she managed to break away from him.
The third woman said Ali subjected her to a serious sexual assault in his Park Lane flat after giving her a necklace and bottle of wine. She told the BBC she felt "numbed with fear" and had to do whatever she was told in order to "get out of there". "Afterwards he just told me I could go.". All three women are suing Harrods through Justice for Harrods Survivors. Barrister Maria Mulla said: "We applaud the bravery of the women who have spoken out on their allegations against Ali Fayed and reiterate our commitment to securing justice and accountability for all survivors." All three women say they had already been sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed when they were allegedly targeted by Ali Fayed.
Since a BBC documentary aired in September on his alleged crimes, 111 women have come forward to police to make allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed, who added the Arabic prefix "Al" to his named in the 1970s. He is accused of attacking women and girls between 1977 and 2014, including one who says she was just 13. Mohamed Al Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, and his younger brothers Ali and Salah bought Harrods in 1985.
Chairman Mohamed ran day-to-day operations of the Knightsbridge department store, Ali Fayed was a director and also helped oversee the House of Fraser group, which they owned in the early 1990s. Harrods, which came under new ownership in 2010, said in a statement that the new claims point to the "breadth of abuse" by Mohamed Al Fayed and "raise serious allegations" against his brother Ali. "We could not possibly speak on behalf of any individual who can, and should, respond to these allegations directly," it added. Ali Fayed was granted UK citizenship in 1999 and co-owns British shirtmaker Turnbull and Asser with his sons.
