Fayed 'like Savile, Epstein and Weinstein' says lawyer

Case involving former Harrods boss described as 'horrific'

- ALEX CROFT

Mohamed al-Fayed was a "monster" whose alleged sexual abuse of women can be compared to the crimes of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, it has been claimed.

The scale of the late billionaire’s alleged offences was laid bare by lawyers representing former Harrods employees who say they were raped or sexually assaulted by Fayed. In a press conference held yesterday following the broadcast of BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, the luxury department store was accused of a “systematic failure of corporate responsibility”.

Around 37 former employees are being represented by the legal team, with “many more” coming forward with fresh allegations of sexual violence at Fayed’s properties across the globe. Five women alleged they had been raped by Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94. Victims as young as 15 and 16 from the US, Canada, Malaysia, Australia, Italy and Romania fell victim to Fayed in locations including London, Paris, Abu Dhabi and St Tropez, it is claimed.

Dean Armstrong KC said he had “never seen a case as horrific as this”. “This case combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein,” he told reporters. “Savile, because in this case, as in that, the institution, we say, knew about the behaviour. Epstein, because in that case, as in this, there was a procurement system in place to source the women and girls – as you know, there are some very young victims.

“And Weinstein, because it was a person at the very top of the organisation who was abusing his power. We will say plainly, Mohamed al-Fayed was a monster.”