Latest news with #AliFayed
Khaleej Times
09-02-2025
- Khaleej Times
Third Al Fayed brother accused of sexual abuse, says BBC
Three former employees at London's Harrods store have accused another brother of its late boss Mohamed Al Fayed of sexual assault, after hundreds of similar claims were made against the tycoon, the BBC reported on Friday. They accuse Ali Fayed, the last surviving one of the three brothers, of assaulting them while they were working for the luxury department store in the 1990s. More than 400 women have come forward with accusations of sexual assault, including rape, against the Egyptian former Harrods and Fulham Football Club owner Mohamed Al Fayed in the wake of a BBC documentary released in September. In November, three women accused another brother, the late Salah Fayed, of assaulting them during the period when he jointly owned the department store with Mohamed. The same week, The New York Times published the claims of a victim accusing Mohamed's younger brother, Ali, of knowing about the "trafficking" of women. Now, three former employees say they were assaulted by Ali Fayed in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the US when the department store was owned by the brothers, according to the BBC. One woman, known as Amy, said she "endured" abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed during three years as his personal assistant, and was also "groped" by Ali at a Fayed family chalet in Switzerland. She told the BBC she wanted an "explanation" from Ali Fayed, 81, who was a director at Harrods. A former Harrods interior designer, named only as Frances, said she was serially abused by Mohamed Al Fayed before being "molested" by Ali in a private apartment in central London and then at his family home in the US state of Connecticut. Laura, the third alleged victim, was subjected to a "serious sexual assault" by Ali Fayed, according to the BBC. A spokesperson for Ali Fayed told the BBC he denied all accusations. A spokesperson for Harrods said it "cannot and would not comment on individual cases", noting accused individuals "can, and should, respond to these allegations directly". Its statement added: "Harrods supports the bravery of all survivors in coming forward. "Their claims point to the breadth of abuse by Mohamed Fayed and raise serious allegations against his brother, Ali Fayed." Harrods confirmed that Ali Fayed was a director and that he was based "in the chairman's offices" when working in the role. "He ceased his role when the business changed ownership in 2010," the statement added. Justice for Harrods Survivors, which represents hundreds of women alleging abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed, said it was representing all three women in this case. "It was clear from the very first days of our work on this case that other individuals beyond Mohamed Al Fayed were alleged to have been involved in the abuse of women and the concealment of their experiences," Justice for Harrods Survivors said in a statement. "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." According to The New York Times, a former Harrods employee alleging abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed says Ali may have "unique and critical evidence" of "a more than two-decade-long trafficking scheme". London's Metropolitan police has opened a new investigation into sexual assault claims against Mohamed Al Fayed, which has identified at least 90 victims. Mohamed Al Fayed died in 2023, and Salah in 2010.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
'His hands were everywhere' - women accuse surviving Fayed brother of sexual assault
Three former Harrods employees have accused Mohamed Al Fayed's only surviving brother of sexually assaulting them while they were working for the department store. Speaking publicly for the first time, the women say Ali Fayed, 82, assaulted them in the 1990s when he and his brothers, Mohamed and Salah, owned and ran Harrods. A spokesperson for Mr Fayed, who lives in the US, said the businessman "will not be scapegoated" and he "unequivocally denies any and all the allegations of wrongdoing" and that "the incidents simply never took place". Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual violence The alleged sexual assaults happened in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the United States. One of the women, a former interior designer for Harrods, says 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 says, and he stopped because "one of his little boys started calling for him". All three women say prior to Ali Fayed's alleged assaults, they had also been sexually abused by his older brother. Police say 111 women have now made allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed, who added the Arabic "Al" prefix to his surname sometime in the 1970s. One of the women, Amy, has told the BBC she wants "an explanation" from Ali Fayed, and an "understanding of what was going on that can help [her] step forward and begin healing". All three say they didn't feel able to speak out at the time. "This is my chance to finally stand up for myself. I'm not going to be that scared 24-year-old who doesn't know what to do," says Frances - who, like Amy, has waived her right to anonymity. Frances took a job working for Harrods in the store's interior design studio in 1989. It wasn't long before Mohamed Al Fayed began to bully and sexually abuse her, she says. Frances says she recalls him regularly trying to grab her breasts and grope her while at work, or subjecting her to "foul" verbal tirades. Despite not having much experience, Frances says she was tasked with renovating Mohamed Al Fayed's sprawling Scottish Balnagown Estate, including a farmhouse belonging to his younger brother, Ali. Frances describes Ali Fayed's demeanour as calmer than that of Mohamed. "I think for a moment I thought maybe he would be kinder to me," she says. "But he wasn't." Ali Fayed, like Mohamed, also had a private office and private apartment in 60 Park Lane in central London. It was in Ali's office where Frances says his sexual abuse started with him "trying to kiss" her, followed by him "groping" and "molesting" her. She says both the 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 escalated in 1992, she says, when she flew to Connecticut to discuss interior design plans with Ali Fayed's wife. "It was this huge private house and it was decorated in an English country house style. I don't think I'd ever seen anything like it in my life," says Frances. "I remember his wife taking me into this picture-perfect American rich town." Frances says 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." Frances says 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". According to Frances the alleged attack stopped when one of Ali's children called out for him. Afterwards, she says she sat on the bed, "frozen". A spokesperson for Ali Fayed said the businessman "is not a perpetrator" and will "robustly defend himself against these unsubstantiated claims". When Frances returned to work in London, she says Mohamed Al Fayed "exploded" and started "aggressively spitting abusive words" because he apparently believed she and Ali had had sex . She says he told her: "I'm done with you… go be with my brother." "From that point, I'd still see Mohamed, and he'd still call me every name under the sun, but he didn't actually physically abuse me," says Frances. "Now I was in fear of two of the owners and I knew if I spoke out it would get worse. I could be threatened, I could be fired. I just felt I had to keep on going and, at some point, this horror would pass." Frances says Ali Fayed sexually assaulted her again later that year on a trip to Balnagown, where she was adding the finishing interior touches to his farmhouse. Ali called her into his private office, she says, then dragged her onto his lap and started kissing her neck and touching her breasts as he spun around in his chair. She says she could feel he was aroused through his trousers. "I remember him laughing," recalls Frances, who says she eventually managed to break free and run out of the room. "Laughter is meant to be nice. It wasn't. I left him there just laughing at me." Ali Fayed would often try to sexually touch her when they met, she says, "always laughing and joking and making out it was fun". The following year, Frances says she was fired for being in a relationship with another employee, something she says Mohamed Al Fayed forbade among staff. Harrods later settled a case she brought for unfair dismissal. Frances describes her time after leaving Harrods as "going underground and shutting myself down". She struggled to work and trust people and eventually moved away. She says Mohamed and Ali Fayed "took away" her confidence and dignity. "To this day I suffer with terrible anxiety and panic attacks and I don't like people in my space," she says. Mohamed Al Fayed and his younger brothers bought Harrods in 1985. While Mohamed was the chairman, running day-to-day operations of the luxury department store, Ali Fayed was a director and also helped oversee the House of Fraser group, which they owned in the early 1990s. The new claims point to the "breadth of abuse" by Mohamed Al Fayed and "raise serious allegations" against his brother Ali, Harrods told the BBC in a statement. "We could not possibly speak on behalf of any individual who can, and should, respond to these allegations directly," it added. The store, which came under new ownership in 2010, said it hoped survivors were looking at "every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate". Ali Fayed, who was granted British citizenship in 1999, co-owns luxury British shirtmaker Turnbull and Asser with his sons - but resigned as director on 8 December 2024, 10 days after these allegations were put to him by the BBC. All three women alleging abuse by Ali Fayed initially spoke to filmmaker Keaton Stone, who has been investigating Mohamed Al Fayed since 2018 and whose work informed the BBC's recent documentary and podcast about Mohamed's predatory behaviour. Mohamed Al Fayed never faced charges while he was alive, but the women believe his brother Ali should now be investigated by police. "Whether any charges would be brought, I don't know, but I believe he should be investigated for what he did," says Amy. She worked as a personal assistant to Mohamed Al Fayed for almost three years, and says he sexually abused her throughout her time at Harrods. The abuse escalated, Amy says, when Mohamed let himself into her room on a work trip to Paris and tried to rape her. She says she "endured" the abuse, thinking "that was just what being a young woman meant, it was a hazard of the workplace". Amy says she remembers Ali Fayed coming into Mohamed's Park Lane office - and also taking phone calls from him. "He gave me the nickname 'Amy speaking' which he thought was hilarious," she recalls. "He would giggle when he spoke to me." A year or two into the job, Amy says Mohamed told her to go to Switzerland with Ali to help with some personal assistant duties like filing and paperwork. The pair travelled together on a Harrods private jet, she says, and were driven to the upmarket resort of Gstaad, where the Fayed family owned a ski chalet. "Once we got to the chalet, aside from the elderly housekeeper, it was myself and Ali alone for three days. It was strange," says Amy. "No efforts were made to even create something for me to do." The trip was taken out of season and Amy says Ali Fayed seemed bored. He suggested they go to the local public swimming pool, she says, and when they got there it was deserted. "That's when Ali's demeanour changed and he became giddy," says Amy. "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." Amy says Ali Fayed laughed as he "groped" her, before she managed to break free of his clutches. After the alleged assault, Amy says they both returned to the chalet and she was left alone for the rest of the evening, feeling isolated and afraid. Like the other two women, Amy didn't tell anyone about the alleged abuse by either of the brothers. Amy says she didn't want to upset her loved ones and didn't necessarily feel people would believe her. "By not saying anything, I think it's a coping technique, to just put it away," she adds. Amy went back to work after the alleged assault took place in Gstaad, but eventually resigned. She says she "escaped and ran away" to work abroad. "I wanted to just remove myself from it all", she says, but "the trauma" lived with her. "To this day, in certain social situations, I don't want to be noticed, I try to stay invisible," she says. Ali Fayed denies all the allegations of wrongdoing - said his spokesperson - and "will not allow false accusations to go unchallenged". A third woman, who we are calling Laura, told us she recalls Mohamed Al Fayed summoning her to his office and telling her "with a smirk on his face" that his brother Ali wanted to see her. "I remember it vividly because I had no comprehension of who Ali was, I'd never even seen him," she says. "I don't know how I was spotted or 'selected' for him." Al Fayed's brother Salah also abused us, women say Police investigate more people over Al Fayed abuse Laura had been working directly for Mohamed Al Fayed in Harrods' HR department and says his sexual harassment towards her had become commonplace, escalating to two serious sexual assaults. Laura says Mohamed sent her to their office building in Park Lane one evening, but when she arrived there was no work to be done. She says she was sent through to Ali Fayed's apartment where he was waiting. Laura says he told her they would be having dinner, and then presented her with a bottle of wine from the year she was born and a necklace. "I wondered how he knew things about me," she says. Alone in his apartment, Laura says Ali Fayed ordered her through to the bedroom where she says she was subjected to a serious sexual assault. She says 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." Laura says she never saw Ali Fayed again but kept the necklace from that night and it has recently been valued at £6,500. The abuse at Harrods "took its toll" says Laura - even after she left the store. She bottled it all up for 25 years, she says, and still hasn't told some of her loved ones what she went through. All three women are pursuing civil legal action against Harrods through Justice for Harrods Survivors. "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," says their barrister Maria Mulla. "We repeat, no stone will be left unturned in pursuit of this aim." The BBC spoke to three other women who said they had been either raped, sexually assaulted or trafficked by the other Fayed brother, Salah, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2010. The women who accuse Ali Fayed question what the three brothers knew about each other's behaviour. "Looking back now, maybe they found it amusing to see how far the boundaries were with us between the brothers," says Amy. "Maybe there was competition. I really don't know, but I do feel it was all amusing for them." Ali Fayed's spokesperson says he "unequivocally denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing. The alleged incidents simply never occurred. Mr Fayed is not a perpetrator and will not be scapegoated. He will robustly defend himself against these unsubstantiated claims and will not allow false accusations to go unchallenged." It is understood the Met Police has not recorded any allegations of sexual offending against Ali Fayed. A Met spokesperson told the BBC that the police force urged "anyone with information, whether they were directly affected by Mohamed Al Fayed's actions or aware of others who may have been involved, or committed offences to come forward. "We have specialist detectives who regularly handle sensitive cases and can provide survivors with access to support services. Every report will be carefully evaluated and recorded, and survivors are encouraged to use the secure channels provided to share their experiences." If you have information about this story that you would like to share please get in touch. Email MAFinvestigation@ Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also use the form below.
The Guardian
07-02-2025
- The Guardian
Former Harrods staff accuse brother of Mohamed Al Fayed of sexual assault
The surviving brother of the former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed has been accused of sexual assault by three former Harrods employees, who claim he assaulted them while they were working for the department store. Three women told the BBC they were sexually assaulted by Ali Fayed, 81, in the 1990s when he and his brothers, Mohamed and Salah, owned and ran Harrods. The women said the alleged abuse happened after they were abused or harassed by Mohamed, his older brother. A spokesperson for Ali Fayed, who lives in the US, said the businessman 'unequivocally denies any and all the allegations of wrongdoing', that 'the incidents simply never took place' and that he would 'not be scapegoated'. The women, who said they did not feel able to speak out at the time, told the broadcaster that the alleged sexual assaults happened in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the US. One of the women, identified as Frances by the BBC, said Ali Fayed had tried to kiss her in his office, before 'groping' and 'molesting' her. She said Ali Fayed also sexually assaulted her in 1992 when she flew to Connecticut to discuss interior design plans with his wife, and when she visited Balnagown in the Scottish Highlands. The woman said she was staying in a guest room at the family's house when Ali Fayed told her to get changed for dinner. When she emerged from the bathroom in her underwear, he had entered the room, she said. Ali Fayed got her on the bed and tried to get on top of her, she said, with the alleged attack only stopping when one of his children called out for him. Afterwards, she sat 'frozen' on the bed, she said. A spokesperson for Ali Fayed said the businessman was 'not a perpetrator' and would 'robustly defend himself against these unsubstantiated claims'. A second woman, identified as Amy by the BBC, said Ali Fayed 'groped' her on a trip to a swimming pool in Switzerland. 'He pulled me in under the water, and groped and fondled me, making me feel very, very uncomfortable – very much trapped,' she told the broadcaster. 'I was terrified, thinking, how am I going to get out of this?' The third woman, identified as Laura by the BBC, said she was subjected to a serious sexual assault at Ali Fayed's apartment that left her 'numbed with fear'. Laura had been working directly for Mohamed Al Fayed in Harrods' HR department and told the BBC his sexual harassment was regular and had escalated to two serious sexual assaults. The woman said Mohamed Al Fayed sent her to their office building in Park Lane one evening, but when she arrived she was not asked to work and instead sent through to Ali Fayed's apartment. She said Ali Fayed told her they would be having dinner, then gave her a bottle of wine from the year when she was born and a necklace. She said he told her to go into the bedroom, where she was subjected to a serious sexual assault. She said she felt 'numbed with fear' and had to do whatever she was told in order to 'get out of there', adding: 'Afterwards he just told me I could go.' Ali Fayed's spokesperson said he 'unequivocally denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing'. According to police, 111 women have now made allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed. Complaints against the Metropolitan police over its handling of allegations will be investigated by the force itself under the direction of a watchdog. The Met is reviewing a total of 21 allegations that were made before Al Fayed died in 2023, and referred two of these to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in November. The three women making allegations against Ali Fayed are pursuing civil legal action against Harrods through the Justice for Harrods Survivors group, which represents a number of alleged victims of Al Fayed. A spokesperson for the group said: 'It was clear from the very first days of our work on this case that other individuals beyond Mohamed Al Fayed were alleged to have been involved in the abuse of women and the concealment of their experiences.' Harrods told the BBC in a statement that the new claims pointed to the 'breadth of abuse' by Mohamed Al Fayed and 'raise serious allegations' against his brother. 'We could not possibly speak on behalf of any individual who can, and should, respond to these allegations directly,' it added.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
Third Al-Fayed brother accused of sexual abuse: BBC
Three former employees at London's Harrods store have accused another brother of its late boss Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual assault, after hundreds of similar claims were made against the tycoon, the BBC reported Thursday. They accuse Ali Fayed, the last surviving one of the three brothers, of assaulting them while they were working for the luxury department store in the 1990s. More than 400 women have come forward with accusations of sexual assault, including rape, against the Egyptian former Harrods and Fulham Football Club owner Mohamed Al-Fayed in the wake of a BBC documentary released in September. In November, three women accused another brother, the late Salah Fayed, of assaulting them during the period when he jointly owned the department store with Mohamed. The same week, the New York Times published the claims of a victim accusing Mohamed's younger brother, Ali, of knowing about the "trafficking" of women. Now, three former employees say they were assaulted by Ali Fayed in London, Scotland, Switzerland and the US when the department store was owned by the brothers and where Ali was a director, according to the BBC. One woman, known as Amy, said she "endured" abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed during three years as his personal assistant, and was also "groped" by Ali at a Fayed family chalet in Switzerland. She told the BBC she wanted an "explanation" from Ali Fayed, 81, the only surviving brother after Salah died in 2010 and Mohamed in 2023. - 'Other individuals' - A former Harrods interior designer, named only as Frances, said she was serially abused by Mohamed Al-Fayed before being "molested" by his younger brother in a private apartment in central London and then at his family home in the US state of Connecticut. Laura, the third alleged victim, was subjected to a "serious sexual assault" by Ali Fayed, according to the BBC. A spokesperson for Ali Fayed told the BBC he denied all accusations. Justice for Harrods Survivors, which represents hundreds of women alleging abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed, said it was representing all three women in this case. "It was clear from the very first days of our work on this case that other individuals beyond Mohamed Al Fayed were alleged to have been involved in the abuse of women and the concealment of their experiences," Justice for Harrods Survivors said in a statement. "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." According to the New York Times, a former Harrods employee alleging abuse by Mohamed Al-Fayed says Ali may have "unique and critical evidence" of "a more than two-decade long trafficking scheme". London's Metropolitan police has opened a new investigation into sexual assault claims against Mohamed Al-Fayed, which has identified at least 90 victims. aks/jkb/ach
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
Mohamed Fayed's only surviving brother accused of sexual assaults
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.
