Harrods apologizes to women who say they were abused by former owner Mohamed Al Fayed

abcnews.go.com:

The managing director of Harrods says the London department store is “deeply sorry” for failing employees who say they were sexually assaulted by late owner Mohamed Al Fayed

LONDON — The managing director of Harrods said Thursday the London department store is “deeply sorry” for failing employees who say they were sexually assaulted by late owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Police, meanwhile, said that over almost two decades, 19 women had made sex crime allegations against the businessman, who was never prosecuted.

Michael Ward, the store's boss, said it is clear Al Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct.”

Five women have told the BBC they were raped by Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, and several others allege acts of assault and physical violence. Lawyers for the accusers say they have been retained by 37 women and the list is growing.

Ward said he was “not aware of his (Al Fayed's) criminality and abuse” during the four years he worked for the Harrod's owner, though “rumors of his behavior circulated in the public domain.”

Al Fayed owned Harrods for a quarter century before selling it 2010 to a company owned by the state of Qatar through its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.

“We failed our colleagues and for that we are deeply sorry,” Ward said in a statement. He said Harrods had set up a “settlement process” for Al Fayed’s victims.

“This was a shameful period in the business’ history,” the statement said. “However, the Harrods of today is unrecognizable to Harrods under his ownership.”

London’s Metropolitan Police says 19 women made allegations against Al Fayed to the force between 2005 and 2023 — three allegations of rape, 15 of