Survivors of abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed call for trafficking investigation

More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Fayed for the period between 1977 and 2014. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian View image in fullscreen More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Fayed for the period between 1977 and 2014. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian Survivors of abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed call for trafficking investigation Without it the ‘true scale’ of former Harrods owner’s alleged network will stay hidden, says survivors’ group Survivors of abuse perpetrated by the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed are calling for a full trafficking investigation to be launched, arguing that without it the “true scale” of the billionaire’s alleged network would remain hidden. Survivors at No One Above (NOA), a collective founded by victims of abuse at the hands of Fayed, are calling for the Metropolitan police to broaden their investigation into the billionaire and make trafficking the main focus. More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Fayed for the period between 1977 and 2014 – including claims of rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, false imprisonment, drugging, physical violence and forced abortions. The Egyptian businessman died in 2023 aged 94, without facing any charges. Lawyers representing the Justice for Fayed and Harrods Survivors group said 421 people had come forward about abuse that allegedly took place at the luxury department store in central London, as well as the Ritz hotel in Paris, Fulham FC and other places owned by Fayed. The Met is investigating 155 victims who have contacted the force directly, 21 of whom came forward before Fayed’s death. However, NOA has argued the Met should focus primarily on trafficking to ensure a wider international network of people who enabled the abuse were also investigated. The group has urged the National Crime Agency to set up a joint investigation team (Jit) to coincide with the Met’s investigation and to have oversight of it. This would enable the police and prosecutors from other countries to work with UK investigators, the group said. In May, some MPs raised concerns about the way police had handled previous and current allegations of abuse by Fayed. The all-party parliamentary group for the survivors of Fayed and Harrods told the BBC: “Survivors of Mohamed Fayed have waited years, and in many cases decades, for the police to investigate allegations against him. Understandably, many fear that his enablers will never be brought to justice.” Justine, not her real name, worked at Harrods for more than three years in the 90s when she was 22 years old. She said she was trafficked and abused by Fayed and told the Press Association that her experience “followed a now familiar pattern of selection, isolation, grooming, manipulation, coercion, transportation, abuse, intimidation, and then surveillance and threat. It was horrific. “His modus operandi was a system of walking the floor, which mean