Harrods, now beneath Qatari possession, problems apology for abuse of energy when gather used to be beneath al-Fayed’s regulate.
Thirty-seven ladies have accused the overdue Mohamed al-Fayed, former boss of the London section gather Harrods, of rape and sexual attack as their legal professionals say they be expecting “many more” to return ahead with civil claims.
Talking at a information convention in London on Friday, legal professionals representing the ladies described the Egypt-born businessman, who died endmost month on the month of 94, as a “monster” who abused girls and women he hired all over the 25 years that he owned the high-end gather from 1985 to 2010.
The allegations in opposition to al-Fayed have been made family by means of the BBC in a documentary referred to as Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, aired on Thursday, and the community’s International of Secrets and techniques podcast, by which greater than 20 ladies alleged that he assaulted and used to be bodily violent against them at houses in London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi.
One among al-Fayed’s accusers who went by means of the title Natacha mentioned on the information convention that the billionaire businessman used to be “highly manipulative” and “preyed on the most vulnerable, those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn’t have parents to protect them”.
In July 2023, Harrods, which used to be bought in 2010 to the funding arm of Qatar’s isolated wealth capitaltreasury, started settling claims with ladies who got here ahead alleging sexual abuse by means of al-Fayed.
The gather’s tide house owners issued an apology in a remark to the BBC documentary, announcing they have been “utterly appalled” by means of the allegations of abuse.
“As a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise,” they mentioned.
“While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.”
The section gather is a “very different organisation” to the only owned and regulated by means of al-Fayed, they mentioned, describing the alleged crimes as “the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power”.
At Friday’s media match, top legal professional Dean Armstrong queried Harrods’s declare that it knew not anything concerning the allegations till endmost month.
“We are here to say publicly and to the world, or to Harrods in front of the world, that it is time that they took responsibility, and it is time that they set matters right, and that is something they should do as soon as possible,” he mentioned.
Legal professional Bruce Drummond mentioned survivors got here from all over the place the arena.
“Complainants came from Malaysia, Australia, Italy, Romania, the United States and Canada while one was just 16 when she was allegedly assaulted,” he mentioned.
American legal professional Gloria Allred, who has represented sufferers in one of the crucial maximum infamous sexual abuse circumstances lately, together with the ones referring to Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, mentioned many ladies had dreamed of running at “the most beautiful store in the world”.
“However, underneath the Harrods glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment,” she mentioned.