Fulham's chairman Mohamed Al Fayed listens as Fulham's new manager Mark Hughes speaks during a news conference at Craven Cottage stadium in London August 3, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]
Police in the United Kingdom investigating whether the former owner of iconic luxury store Harrods raped and sexually assaulted female workers have widened their enquires to look at whether others may have helped him commit the alleged crimes.
Around 90 women have accused Mohamed Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, of a range of sexual offenses between the 1970s and 2014, committed both at Harrods and other businesses he owned, including the Ritz Paris hotel and Fulham Football Club.
London's Metropolitan Police Service said this week it is now looking at five people who are still alive, and who may have helped Al Fayed commit the alleged offenses.
Commander Steve Clayman, from the Metropolitan Police Service's Specialist Crime Command, said investigators are looking at what role individuals "may have played in facilitating or enabling his offending, and what opportunities they had to protect victims from his horrendous abuse".
"I recognize the bravery of every victim-survivor who has come forward to share their experiences, often after years of silence," Clayman added. "This investigation is about giving survivors a voice, despite the fact that Mohamed Al Fayed is no longer alive to face prosecution."
The investigation began after a BBC television documentary titled Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods highlighted allegations against the billionaire, which triggered dozens of women to come forward to say they had also been attacked.
The police subsequently admitted officers had received 21 complaints about Al Fayed while he was still alive, but that he was never charged with an offense.
Clayman said the Metropolitan Police Service is "aware that past events may have impacted the public's trust and confidence" in the police, but that officers are now "determined to rebuild that trust by addressing these allegations with integrity and thoroughness".
The Metropolitan Police Service has also launched an internal review, to see whether it handled the previous allegations correctly.
Al Fayed owned Harrods between 1985 and 2010.
The Harrods Survivors group, which claims to represent women he attacked, said it is aware of 421 women who have made allegations against Al Fayed.
Many of them have spoken of having worked at Harrods and having been required to have invasive tests to see if they had sexually transmitted diseases. The results of the test were then shared with Al Fayed, who then pressured women and girls, some as young as 13, to have sex. He later allegedly threatened his victims with consequences if they spoke about what had happened.
Harrods said in a statement it is fully supporting the investigation.
"We have an open, direct, and ongoing line of communication with the (Metropolitan Police) for the benefit of the survivors," it said. "We continue to encourage all survivors to engage with the Met police and we welcome the investigation in supporting survivors in their wider pursuit of justice."
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