Al Fayed (right) owned the London football club Fulham for years. (archive picture)
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Mohamed Al Fayed (left) was considered one of the most colorful personalities in the British business world. The picture shows him with British actor Sacha Baron Cohen.
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Mohamed Al-Fayed erected a memorial to his son Dodi and Lady Diana after their deaths.
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Al Fayed became famous as the owner of the famous department store Harrods. (archive picture)
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Al Fayed (right) owned the London football club Fulham for years. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Mohamed Al Fayed (left) was considered one of the most colorful personalities in the British business world. The picture shows him with British actor Sacha Baron Cohen.
Image: dpa
Mohamed Al-Fayed erected a memorial to his son Dodi and Lady Diana after their deaths.
Image: dpa
Al Fayed became famous as the owner of the famous department store Harrods. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
He was considered one of the most dazzling personalities in London's business world: Mohamed Al Fayed owned a famous department store and a football club. Serious allegations are shaking his legacy.
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- The extent of the abuse scandal surrounding British businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, who died in August 2023, is becoming ever clearer.
- British police have now revealed that Al-Fayed allegedly abused 111 women and girls over four decades at Fulham FC football club and the luxury department store Harrods in London.
It wasn't long ago that Mohamed Al Fayed was recognized as one of Britain's most famous businessmen. That was at the end of August 2023, and Al Fayed had just died at the age of 94.
Less than a year and a half later, serious allegations of sexual assault were made against the flamboyant and controversial businessman. If the allegations are confirmed, he would be one of the country's most serious sex offenders, wrote the Guardian newspaper.
The former owner is alleged to have sexually abused dozens of women at Fulham FC football club and the famous luxury department store Harrods. Employees of other Al Fayed companies also came forward to the police. The alleged period of crime stretches from 1977 to 2014.
90 victims come forward since BBC report
The BBC and the Guardian newspaper report a total of 111 victims, the youngest being 13 years old. Among them are 21 women who reported the entrepreneur between 2005 and his death.
Since the BBC first made allegations by two women public in September, the London police have added a further 90 alleged victims.
The Metropolitan Police have now launched a new investigation. There is little prospect of a posthumous conviction, as no criminal proceedings can be brought against the dead. But the Met is now taking action against people linked to Al Fayed.
"Officers are working to establish what role these individuals may have played in supporting and enabling Al Fayed's crimes," the agency said. There are reportedly five people involved.
"How did he get away with it?"
The scale of the case "raises pressing questions about how he got away with his crimes", wrote the Guardian. Comparisons are already being drawn with the scandal surrounding US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who used his influence, wealth and power to abuse young women.
Unlike Epstein, however, Al Fayed was never charged. According to the BBC, he reached out-of-court settlements with alleged victims in some cases. The Guardian wrote that corrupt police officers had helped Al Fayed to fend off accusations from former female employees.
"How this matter could have been concealed for so long and in so many ways raises further disturbing questions," said Al Fayed's son Omar in an initial reaction at the end of September.
He was "appalled and deeply outraged". The current owners of Harrods and Fulham distanced themselves from Mohamed Al Fayed and promised to help clarify the situation.
Al Fayed liked to show off with the rich and powerful
In Germany, the entrepreneur was best known for the relationship between his eldest son Dodi Al Fayed and Princess Diana, the ex-wife of King Charles III and mother of the current heir to the throne, Prince William.
The couple died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997. Mohamed Al Fayed's empire also included the Ritz Hotel in the French capital, from where Diana and Dodi set off on their last journey.
Born in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, he was mainly active in Great Britain from the 1960s onwards. He became famous in the 1980s with the takeover of the legendary luxury department store Harrods in London, which he sold to the Qatari ruling family after 26 years.
Al Fayed enjoyed public appearances with the rich and powerful and became increasingly involved in British politics. However, the businessman suffered a serious defeat when the government refused him British citizenship due to his dubious character.
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