UK police investigate more than 5 people over alleged abuse by former Harrods boss Al Fayed

LONDON (AP) - Britain’s biggest police force has launched an investigation into more than five people who may have assisted the former boss of top-end department store Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, carry out more than 100 alleged acts of sexual abuse, including rape, on women and girls.

In an update on its investigation late Wednesday, London’s Metropolitan Police said it is looking at unidentified individuals who could have enabled Al Fayed between 1977 and 2014. Allegations against Al Fayed have grown since the BBC broadcast claims by several former Harrods employees in September.

The Met said another 90 potential victims have come forward, bringing the total to 111. Lawyers representing more than 400 women have come forward, and the number is increasing daily, police said.

The Met also confirmed that an an internal review is being carried out into how the force handled claims about Al Fayed while he was alive. Al Fayed, who was never prosecuted, died in 2023, aged 94.

"To anyone who suffered at the hands of Mohammed Al Fayed or others who may not yet have come forward, I know there may be many reasons why you have not felt able to report the crimes committed against you,” said Met Commander Steve Clayman.

He said the investigation is ostensibly about "giving survivors a voice" but that it is "now pursuing” individuals suspected to have been "complicit" in Al Fayed’s offending.

Al Fayed was questioned by detectives in 2008 over the alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old, and in 2009 and 2015 police passed files of evidence about him to prosecutors. He was never charged.

"We are aware that past events may have impacted the public's trust and confidence in our approach, and we are determined to rebuild that trust by addressing these allegations with integrity and thoroughness,” said Clayman.

The Egypt-born businessman moved to Britain in the 1960s and bought Harrods in the mid-1980s. Al Fayed sold Harrods in 2010 to a company owned by the state of Qatar through its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.

The current managing director of Harrods, Michael Ward, has apologized to former employees who said they were sexually assaulted by Al Fayed. Ward said it is clear Al Fayed "presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct."