‘Mohamed Al Fayed’s brother Salah also abused us’, say women

The women told the BBC that Salah Fayed abused them in London, the south of France and Monaco between 1989 and 1997.

One women alleged she was raped by Salah after she was drugged.

All three women said they were also sexually assaulted or raped by Mohamed Al Fayed, then chairman of the company.

Salah Fayed, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2010, was one of three Fayed brothers who purchased the luxury Knightsbridge department store in 1985.

One of the three women, known only as Helen, who waived her right to anonymity, said she was 23 and had been working at her “dream job” in Harrods for almost two years when Mohamed Al Fayed raped her in a Dubai hotel room.

When he offered her some personal assistant work with his younger brother a month later, she alleged she was drugged by Salah and believed she was then raped by him while unconscious.

She told the BBC: “He (Mohamed Al Fayed) shared me with his brother.

“They’ve stolen a part of me. It’s changed the course of my entire life.”

The BBC also spoke to two other women who say they were abused by both Mohamed and Salah.

They say they were trafficked abroad and tricked by Salah into smoking crack cocaine.

One of them said: “He was trying to get me hooked on crack so he could do whatever he wanted to me.”

Hundreds of women have alleged Mohamed Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, raped or sexually assaulted them.

Police are looking into some claims and Harrods is also settling hundreds of claims.

Helen told the BBC she was raped by the billionaire while on a business trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in February 1989.

She claimed she was told to sign a Harrods non-disclosure agreement two months after the trip and that it was both this and the fear of reprisal that stopped her from speaking out for more than three decades.

Over the next few months she began to make plans to leave Harrods, and when Al Fayed asked her to do some filing work for his brother, Salah, at his Park Lane home, she saw it as a way out.

She said that after working with him for two days, she believed she was drugged and raped by both Salah and one of his friends.

Shortly after, Helen resigned from Harrods.

Two other women working at Harrods say they believe they were trafficked by Salah because they were lured with deceptive offers of work and sexually exploited.

Rachael, who was 23 when she started as Salah’s personal assistant in 1994, told the BBC she was “sexually propositioned” by older men Salah introduced to her and that he encouraged her to smoke from a hookah pipe she later discovered contained crack cocaine.

She had been told that if the role with Salah did not suit her, she could return to Harrods. She went back, but Rachael says 18 months later she was lured to Mohamed Al Fayed’s Park Lane home where he sexually assaulted her.

A third woman, who the BBC called Rebecca, said she was sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed at his home in 1997 when she was aged 19.

She was later asked by him to go to Monaco to work as a personal assistant for Salah where she claimed he sexually assaulted her in his apartment.

Harrods said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward” and urged them to make claims to the company’s compensation scheme.

A spokesperson for the company added: “These new claims point to the breadth of abuse by Mohamed Fayed and also raise serious allegations against his brother, Salah Fayed.

“We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.

“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said: “As we indicated when speaking to the media on September 20, we have credible evidence from our survivors suggesting the abuse perpetrated at Harrods and Mohamed Al Fayed’s other properties was not limited to Mr Al Fayed himself.

“We are grateful that another abuser has now been unmasked and look forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course.

“Make no mistake, the abuse experienced by our survivors was facilitated and enabled by a vast infrastructure – an infrastructure that must be exposed and torn down.

“We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was aware of the allegations against Salah Fayed.

Commander Stephen Clayman said: “I want to continue to thank those who have placed their trust in us and come forward to share their experiences. Doing so requires incredible courage and we have specialist teams to ensure those victims who make contact with us are supported in the best way possible.

“We understand the weight of these allegations and have committed to a review of past reports. Although we cannot pursue criminal proceedings against someone who has passed away, our priority is to ensure that every potential victim-survivor has a voice and access to the support they need.

“We remain dedicated to explore all reasonable lines of inquiry, carefully reviewing new information, and identifying any allegations that could lead to criminal action.

“Our commitment to those affected is unwavering. We will do everything possible to update on our progress when we can, but it is crucial we do this thoroughly and we do it right.”