According to three former employees, one of Mohamed Al Fayed’s brothers has also been accused of abusing women who worked at the prestigious Harrods department store in the UK.
The women reported to the BBC that Salah Fayed mistreated them in locations including London, the south of France, and Monaco from 1989 to 1997.
One woman claimed she was raped after being drugged.
All three women alleged that they experienced sexual assault or rape at the hands of Mohamed Al Fayed, the former chairman of the company.
Salah Fayed, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2010, was one of three brothers who acquired the luxurious Knightsbridge department store in 1985.
One of the women, identified only as Helen, who chose to waive her anonymity, stated she was 23 and had been enjoying her “dream job” at Harrods for nearly two years when Mohamed Al Fayed raped her in a hotel room in Dubai.
After he proposed a personal assistant position with his younger brother a month later, she claimed she was drugged by Salah and believed she was subsequently raped while she was unconscious.
She recounted to the BBC: “He (Mohamed Al Fayed) shared me with his brother.”
“They’ve taken a part of me. It’s altered the course of my entire life.”
(file image of Mohamed Al Fayed)
The BBC also interviewed two additional women who reported abuse by both brothers, Mohamed and Salah.
They claimed they were trafficked abroad and misled by Salah Fayed into using crack cocaine.
One of them remarked: “He was trying to get me hooked on crack so he could do whatever he wanted with me.”
Numerous women have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, of rape or sexual assault.
Authorities are investigating some of the allegations, and Harrods is in the process of settling hundreds of claims.
Helen recounted to the BBC that she was raped by the billionaire during a business trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in February 1989.
She mentioned that she was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement from Harrods two months after the trip, and it was this requirement, along with a fear of retaliation, that held her back from speaking out for over thirty years.
In the following months, she began planning her exit from Harrods, and when Mohamed Al Fayed requested her assistance with some filing for his brother, Salah, at his Park Lane residence, she viewed it as an opportunity to escape.
She stated that after working with him for two days, she believed she was drugged and raped by both Salah Fayed and one of his acquaintances.
Shortly afterward, Helen resigned from Harrods.
Two other women employed at Harrods claimed they suspect they were trafficked by Salah Fayed under false pretenses of job offers and then sexually exploited.
Rachael, who was 23 when she began working as Salah Fayed’s personal assistant in 1994, told the BBC that she was “sexually propositioned” by older men he introduced to her and that he encouraged her to use a hookah pipe which she later discovered contained crack cocaine.
She had been promised that if the position with Mr. Fayed did not work out, she could return to Harrods.
(file image of Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, UK)
She returned, but Rachael alleges that 18 months later, she was lured to Mohamed Al Fayed’s Park Lane home where he sexually assaulted her.
A third woman, referred to as Rebecca by the BBC, claimed she was sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed at his residence in 1997 when she was 19.
Later, he requested her to go to Monaco to work as a personal assistant for Salah Fayed, where she claimed he sexually assaulted her in his apartment.
Harrods expressed its “support for the bravery of these women in coming forward” and encouraged them to file claims through the company’s compensation scheme.
A spokesperson for the company stated: “These new allegations highlight the extensive nature of the abuse committed by Mohamed Fayed and also raise significant accusations against his brother, Salah Fayed.
“We urge these survivors to step forward and submit their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can seek compensation, support from counseling services, and assistance from an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are utilizing every suitable option available to them in their quest for justice, whether through Harrods, law enforcement, or the Fayed family and estate.”
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group commented: “As we mentioned when addressing the media on September 20, we possess credible evidence from our survivors suggesting that the abuse committed at Harrods and Mohamed Al Fayed’s other properties was not limited to Mr. Al Fayed himself.
“We are thankful that another abuser has now been revealed and we look forward to the exposure of others for whom we have credible evidence – whether they are the abusers themselves or enablers who facilitated that abuse – in due course.
“Let there be no misunderstanding, the mistreatment faced by our survivors was supported and enabled by a vast network – a network that must be uncovered and dismantled.
“We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are dedicated to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The Metropolitan Police have been approached for comments.
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, help is available. Click here for more information.
