Mohamed al Fayed: Timeline of sex abuse claims
Mohamed al Fayed has been branded "a monster" by the lawyers representing his alleged sexual abuse victims.
The lawyers represent 37 alleged victims, including five women who say they were raped by the former Harrods owner, who died last year at the age of 94.
US lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented accusers of Weinstein, R Kelly and Bill Cosby, said the allegations include serial rape, attempted rape, sexual battery and sexual abuse of minors.
Ms Allred and her team have announced their intention to bring a civil case against Harrods, which they claim "enabled" Fayed to maintain a "toxic, unsafe and abusive environment" while he was in charge.
Their announcement came off the back of a BBC documentary which heard from more than 20 female former Harrods employees who say the Egyptian-born billionaire sexually assaulted or raped them.
But allegations against Fayed were first publicised decades ago and police investigated claims against him several times before he died.
This is a timeline detailing when accusations were made and some of the major developments in Fayed's career.
1985
Fayed buys luxury London department store Harrods, having built up his fortune in real estate, shipping and construction.
The businessman is believed to have been heir to a shipping fortune, though he claimed at times he was the son of a poor teacher.
1994
Fayed admits he paid two Conservative MPs £2,000 each to ask questions in parliament on Harrods's behalf. The MPs received the cash in brown envelopes and failed to declare the payments.
The story broke in 1994, when he gave the politicians' names to the press, but the questions were asked in the late 1980s.
1995
Vanity Fair publishes a lengthy article aimed at exposing Fayed as a serial abuser and racist who spied on his staff using bugged phones and hidden cameras.
The author Maureen Orth said she spoke to a dozen ex-employees who said Fayed would chase secretaries around the office and sometimes try to stuff money down their blouses.
They also claimed Fayed would regularly walk into the store looking for young, attractive women to work in his office.
He responded to it with a libel lawsuit, prompting the magazine to start a further investigation into Fayed.
May 1997
Fayed buys Fulham football club - then a third division team - for a reported £30m.
Meanwhile, his legal action against Vanity Fair and the magazine's investigation into him continue, though talks of a settlement are beginning to take place.
August 1997
Fayed's son Dodi Al Fayed dies in a Paris car crash along with his girlfriend, Diana, Princess of Wales.
This prompts Vanity Fair's publisher Conde Nast to shut down its investigation completely "out of respect for the grieving father", according to Henry Porter, who was the magazine's UK editor at the time.
Mr Porter later revealed in a piece for The Observer that all of the evidence his team collected over the two years was put into locked storage and was seen by the journalists who made the BBC documentary in 2024.
December 1997
Four women allege they were repeatedly groped, subjected to crude remarks and promised rewards in return for sex by Fayed.
They make the claims on ITV's The Big Story - in a programme titled "Sex, Lies and Audiotape".
Robert Loftus, a former Harrods security chief, also appears on the show and claims Fayed secretly but legally bugged employees, adding the Harrods boss didn't care what he said to female staff.
Fayed issues a statement labelling the claims "outrageous and untrue", arguing that they were a repetition of allegations previously made in Vanity Fair by disgruntled former employees.
He adds he is unable to comment in detail and wasn't able to contribute to the programme because he was not allowed to hear the allegations in advance.
1998
Journalist Tom Bower writes an unauthorised biography of Fayed including allegations of abuse, which Fayed again denied.
Bower later tells Sky News the Harrods boss was a "gangster, a monster and also a major crook".
1999
Fayed applies for British citizenship for a second time, having initially tried in 1995. He is denied both times after failing to pass the "good character" test required by the Home Office.
2008
Fayed is accused of indecent assault against a 15-year-old girl, which he again denies.
The woman would later tell a Channel 4 Dispatches programme how she was offered a job at Harrods when she was 15 and then showered with gifts by Fayed.
He then tried to force himself on her and kiss her, she said.
Fayed attends a voluntary interview with the Metropolitan Police.
2009
After the police passed on its evidence of the alleged indecent assault to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), then led by Sir Keir Starmer, it elected not to prosecute Fayed due to conflicting evidence.
2010
Fayed sells Harrods to Qatar Holdings for a reported £1.5bn.
2013
Another woman alleges Fayed raped her, prompting another police investigation - but no charges are brought against him.
Fayed sells Fulham FC, now a Premier League club, to US businessman Shahid Khan.
2015
Police reinvestigate the rape allegation from 2013, and the CPS reviews the case. It again decides not to prosecute Fayed, with a spokesperson later saying it was not confident that there was "a realistic prospect of conviction".
2017
Three women make assault and sexual harassment claims against Fayed in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme.
One of the women was Cheska, who started working at Harrods at the age of 19.
She claims Fayed grabbed her arms and kissed her as he claimed to be helping her acting career in his apartment, adding he could not help if she didn't sleep with him.
Cheska, who waived her anonymity to lend "more weight" to her accusations, later spoke to Sky News about her experiences.
Another woman who featured in the documentary said she was forced to undergo a full medical and STI check when she was hired at Harrods and claimed Fayed asked her to sleep with him, on one occasion becoming forceful.
She sued him for sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination and was made an offer of £60,000, which she accepted.
2018-2023
The CPS provides the Met Police with early investigative advice for Fayed in 2018, 2021 and 2023, but full evidence is never received for these instances and the police take no further action.
July 2023
Harrods begins settling claims with women who came forward with claims of sexual abuse against Fayed.
August 2023
Fayed dies aged 94 in London, with his family saying he "passed away peacefully of old age".
"He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones," the family says in a statement.
September 2024
The BBC airs its documentary on 19 September, in which more than 20 women make claims against Fayed, ranging from sexual assault to rape.
The lawyers for the Justice for Harrods Survivors group hold a news conference the day after announcing their intention to bring a civil case against Harrods.
Read more:
Ex-Harrods director: Fayed created toxic culture at store
Fulham FC responds to allegations against former owner
They claim Harrods helped cover up his alleged crimes while he was in charge, with barrister Bruce Drummond saying it is "one of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation" that he and "perhaps the world has ever seen".
US lawyer Gloria Allred adds there was "something rotten at the core of Harrods", where "underneath the glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment".
One of the alleged victims, Natacha, also speaks at the news conference, saying she thought she had "the chance of a lifetime" when she was hired at Harrods aged 19.
"Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion's den, a lair of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation and gross sexual misconduct," Natacha says, describing Fayed as a "predator", who "preyed on the most vulnerable".
On the same day, a former member of the Harrods management team tells Sky News Fayed would "cherry pick" women from the shop floor.
Speaking anonymously, the woman describes the billionaire as "demonic" and says he "controlled everything with fear".
What is happening now and what has Harrods said?
The lawyers held their news conference on Friday 20 September.
The following Monday Maria Mulla, one of the lawyers, told Sky News they had received more than 150 new inquiries over the weekend.
The group has not yet given details about when it will bring the civil case against Harrods.
Harrods said in a statement: "We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed al Fayed.
"These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.
"We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.
"The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.
"This is why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved."
The company has also said it is carrying out internal investigations to see if any of its current staff are involved with any of the allegations either directly or indirectly.
