Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian tycoon owner of Harrods who passed away last year at the age of 94, has been accused of rape by five women who worked at the luxury department store in London, according to a BBC investigation.
The father of Dodi Fayed, Lady Di's lover who died with her in the Paris accident in 1997, has also been accused of sexual harassment by 20 employees of the department store, according to the documentary Al Fayed: a predator at Harrods.
Bruce Dummond, the lawyer representing the alleged victims, has directly blamed Harrods for obstruction and concealment in the cases reported over the years by employees, who now accuse him of creating an atmosphere of "sexual terror" in the department store.
"The network of corruption and abuse in the company is very dark," Dummond states in the documentary airing this week and causing a stir in London's high society. The current owners of Harrods have admitted to feeling "horrified" by the accusations.
The incidents occurred not only in the Harrods facilities in London, but also in Paris, Saint-Tropez, and Abu Dhabi, taking advantage of his frequent travels. One of the employees in London claims to have been raped by Al Fayed in the department store premises in Mayfair when she was underage.
"Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator without any moral consideration," recounts the alleged victim. "He cultivated a culture of fear, and we were all scared. If he said 'jump!', the usual response was 'how high?'.
"He was a cruel person," says a former personal assistant of Al Fayed, identified as Sophia. "He tried to rape me more than once... People should remember him for what he truly was, and not for the amiable image he projected."
The first accusations of sexual harassment against the tycoon surfaced in the last years of his life but did not reach the courts. The BBC investigation has revealed at least five cases of alleged rape, although the number of victims is believed to be significantly higher.
Mohamed Al Fayed began his business career on the streets of Alexandria and in 1985 made the leap to the United Kingdom after acquiring Harrods. His frequent presence in the media and television programs propelled him to fame. He reached the peak of notoriety when his son Dodi became Princess Diana's last lover.