Mohamed Fayed's only surviving brother accused of sexual assaults

Yahoo

07-02-2025

Mohamed Fayed's only surviving brother has been accused of sexually assaulting three former Harrods employees.
The women claim Ali Fayed assaulted them in the 1990s when he and his brothers, Mohamed and Salah, owned and ran the department store.
All three have spoken for the first time and said the alleged incidents by Ali Fayed took place in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the United States.
The latest allegations come after the Met announced it would be investigating its handling of accusations against Mohamed Fayed under the direction of a watchdog.
The Metropolitan Police revealed 111 women have now come forward to make allegations against the former Harrods boss, who died in August 2023.
A spokesman for Ali Fayed, 82, who is the only surviving brother and lives in America, said he 'unequivocally denies any and all the allegations of wrongdoing'.
Speaking to the BBC, one of the women, Frances, claimed Mohamed Al Fayed began to bully and sexually abuse her after taking an interior design job at the store in 1989.
She said she then crossed paths with Ali Fayed after she was tasked with renovating his farmhouse on Mohamed's Scottish estate – where she says he 'groped' and 'molested' her.
In 1992, the abuse escalated after she was taken to Ali Fayed's house in Connecticut to help with its interior design.
Frances claimed he was waiting in her room as she got undressed in the bathroom and that he then tried to assault her.
'I was just numb and I knew what his intention was – it was really scary,' she said.
She added that the alleged attack only stopped when one of Ali's children called out to him, leaving her lying there 'frozen'.
'To this day I suffer with terrible anxiety and panic attacks and I don't like people in my space,' she said.
Another woman, Amy, worked as a personal assistant to Mohamed Fayed, who she claims sexually abused her for almost three years while she was working at Harrods.
She said she 'endured' the abuse, which she claims also came from Ali Fayed, because she thought 'that was just what being a young woman meant, it was a hazard of the workplace'.
A third woman, referred to as Laura, claimed the owner called her to his office 'with a smirk on his face' before telling her his brother Ali wanted to see her, making her feel like she had been 'selected'.
She said she was 'numbed with fear' after two serious sexual assaults and commonplace sexual harassment.
All three women – who said they did not feel able to speak out at the time – are pursuing civil legal action against Harrods through Justice for Harrods Survivors.
In a statement to the BBC, the store, which came under new ownership in 2010, said the new claims showed 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's spokesman said he denies all the allegations of wrongdoing, 'will not allow false accusations to go unchallenged' and that he is 'not a perpetrator'.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.