Greater than 400 alleged victims have thus far contacted the authorized crew engaged on a case in opposition to 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, compelled 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 informed a information convention in London.
Al Fayed all the time denied comparable accusations raised by different studies earlier than his demise.
When requested for a response, Harrods pointed Reuters to its previous statements on the allegations, wherein 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 ladies from around the globe, principally 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 occurred “inside the partitions of Harrods” but additionally in different places linked to Al Fayed’s enterprise empire, reminiscent of Fulham Soccer Membership, the Ritz Paris and his property in Surrey.
Victims embody the daughter of a former U.S. ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a well known soccer participant, Drummond stated, with out giving any names.
The BBC documentary stated Harrods had did not intervene and helped to cowl up abuse allegations throughout his possession.
Attorneys have criticised the Harrods-run compensation scheme, saying a number of the victims don’t really feel snug to succeed in out to Harrods instantly 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 because of their issues over potential conflicts of curiosity and poor communication.
A number of media organisations had reported allegations of sexual abuse in opposition to Al Fayed earlier than the BBC documentary, together with Self-importance Truthful in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. Attorneys stated in September most of the ladies solely felt in a position to converse publicly within the BBC report after he died final 12 months.
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