Greater than 400 alleged victims have to this point contacted the authorized staff engaged on a case towards the late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of sexual abuse and rape, lawyer Dean Armstrong stated on Thursday.
A BBC documentary in September revealed Al Fayed, who died final 12 months aged 94, sexually abused feminine employees at his London division retailer Harrods, pressured them to have medical screenings and threatened penalties in the event that they tried to complain.
“The sheer scale of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed, and facilitated by these round him, sadly, continues to develop,” Armstrong advised a information convention in London.
Al Fayed at all times denied related accusations raised by different reviews earlier than his loss of life.
When requested for a response, Harrods pointed Reuters to its previous statements on the allegations, through which it has apologised, stated it was “appalled” by them and that it had launched a course of for any present or former Harrods staff who want to declare compensation.
One other lawyer, Bruce Drummond, stated the greater than 400 claims have been made by girls from all over the world, largely from Britain but additionally from the USA, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and different international locations.
“That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale abuse,” Drummond stated, including abuse befell “throughout the partitions of Harrods” but additionally in different areas linked to Al Fayed’s enterprise empire, resembling Fulham Soccer Membership, the Ritz Paris and his property in Surrey.
Victims embrace the daughter of a former U.S. ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a widely known soccer participant, Drummond stated, with out giving any names.
The BBC documentary stated Harrods had didn’t intervene and helped to cowl up abuse allegations throughout his possession.
Legal professionals have criticised the Harrods-run compensation scheme, saying a few of the victims don’t really feel comfy to succeed in out to Harrods straight for compensation as that’s the place the abuse unfolded.
Drummond stated some senior members of employees from the Al Fayed period nonetheless labored at Harrods.
The Monetary Occasions final week reported that 4 alleged victims had stop the Harrods compensation scheme as a consequence of their issues over potential conflicts of curiosity and poor communication.
A number of media organisations had reported allegations of sexual abuse towards Al Fayed earlier than the BBC documentary, together with Self-importance Honest in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. Legal professionals stated in September most of the girls solely felt in a position to communicate publicly within the BBC report after he died final 12 months.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by EDNBOX employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)