At least five victims of the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have been confirmed by the Home Office as victims of human trafficking.
A group of survivors of abuse by the deceased businessman had called for the Metropolitan police to make trafficking the main focus of its investigation, arguing that Fayed could not have committed his offences without a steady stream of women sent to him by associates.
The women were victims of international and domestic trafficking, and one survivor told the Press Association (PA) they were recruited to a false role within Harrods. Two further victims were hired for a legitimate role and then selected from the shop floor for abuse. These cases stretch from the ۱۹۹۰s to the most recent, which took place after the ۲۰۱۰ sale of Harrods.
Officers are looking into who may have facilitated Fayed’s crimes, in an investigation known as Operation Cornpoppy. Four people have been questioned to date, ۲۱ months after the investigation opened.
One survivor, known as Justine, told PA she felt “shellshocked” when she received the conclusive grounds decision in June that she had been a victim of modern slavery.
She added: “But it’s a really significant thing, getting that decision, seeing it in writing that you were a victim of modern slavery and trafficking is very … it’s really shocking to read.”
Another survivor, Isabella, who worked in the chair’s office at Harrods in ۲۰۰۱, told PA: “He couldn’t have done what he did without Harrods processing women to him and silencing them afterwards. It wasn’t just Harrods, obviously. It was any entity that Fayed owned or had control of. It was his yachts, his aviation business, the Ritz Paris, his properties all over France and Monaco. It went as far as the States and the UAE – anywhere that man touched.”
More than ۴۰۰ allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Fayed for the period between ۱۹۷۷ and ۲۰۱۴ – including claims of rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, false imprisonment, drugging, physical violence and forced abortions. The Egyptian businessman died in ۲۰۲۳ aged ۹۴, without facing any charges.
A woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Fayed previously came forward to say she had been trafficked in Paris on his orders in ۲۰۰۸ before being sent to London to be sexually assaulted by him. Pelham Spong, ۴۰, from South Carolina in the US, said Fayed, who owned the Ritz hotel in Paris, had forcibly kissed her and offered her a salary of €۶۵,۰۰۰ a year if she slept with him.
Victims have previously complained of how the Metropolitan police have handled the investigations into Fayed’s abuse. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is examining complaints about the force’s handling of allegations between ۲۰۱۸ and ۲۰۲۴.
A Harrods spokesperson said: “Harrods supports all survivors in their pursuit of justice and continues to work closely with the Met police on its investigation”.
