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More than 400 alleged victims and witnesses have come forward to join the growing list of sexual assault allegations against former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed, lawyers in the bombshell case said on Thursday.
A BBC documentary in September revealed Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, sexually abused female staff at his famed London department store, forced them to have medical screenings and threatened consequences if they tried to complain.
Since the release of the documentary, hundreds more have accused the longtime Harrods owner of harassment, assault and rape while they were his employees, according to the BBC. The accusations span a period of more than 30 years.
“The sheer scale of abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed, and facilitated by those around him, sadly, continues to grow,” lawyer Dean Armstrong told a news conference in London.
Another lawyer, Bruce Drummond, said the more than 400 claims have been made by women from around the world, mostly from Britain but also from the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and other countries.
“That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale abuse,” Drummond said, adding abuse took place “within the walls of Harrods” but also in other locations linked to Al Fayed’s business empire, such as Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Paris and his estate in Surrey.
Victims include the daughter of a former US ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a well-known soccer player, Drummond said, without giving any names.
Al Fayed always denied similar accusations raised by other reports before his death.
When asked for a response, Harrods pointed Reuters to its past statements on the allegations, in which it has apologized, said it was “appalled” by them and that it had launched a process for any current or former Harrods employees who wish to claim compensation.
Harrods was bought by the state of Qatar in 2010. The department store’s new owners previously said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and were investigating whether any current staff were involved.
Harrods previously told the BBC that it was in the process of settling more than 250 claims for compensation brought by victims of Al Fayed. The store – which has a compensation scheme for victims of alleged abuse, separate from the legal case – said it has already settled a number of claims.
On Thursday, the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had sent its first letter of claim to the department store.
Most of the 421 claims against Al Fayed were connected to incidents at Harrods, the group said.
The lawyers said they expect to send hundreds more claims to Harrods in the next few weeks as the allegations “snowball and snowball.”
In addition to the claims against Harrods, lawyers are also working on a claim against the Al Fayed estate, they told the BBC.
Armstrong said the group reached a deal with a major law firm who will be handling the claims.
“The law firm have areas of expertise in this field and, lest anyone be concerned about our ability to fight this cause to the end, backing of over £1 billion,” Armstrong said.
Harrods experienced tumultuous leadership turnover during Al Fayed’s 25-year reign over the department store.
James McArthur, who served as Harrods’ CEO for just 10 months in 2008, said Al Fayed’s behavior was “abhorrent” and his professional relationships were “dysfunctional,” though he denied being aware of any sexual abuse.
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