Exclusive:
Woman claims in court papers that she was targeted by the Harrods billionaire aged just 19 before being trafficked in his private jet and ‘raped and brutally abused’
A woman who claims she was trafficked by Mohamed Al Fayed was shown enough photographs of sex abuse victims to “fill a shoebox”, court papers claim.
The former Harrods employee said she saw the Polaroid snaps while being held captive, when she claimed she was “raped and brutally abused”. Named only as Jane Doe, she makes the claims in a lawsuit calling for evidence to be provided by Al Fayed’s younger brother, Ali Fayed. He was allegedly aware that the former Harrods boss trafficked the woman and may be able to help prove that the luxury store was complicit in the alleged crime, the claim states. Ali Fayed, who is 80 and has a home in Greenwich, Connecticut, is a former Harrods director and the current chairman of a 139-year-old British shirt maker that supplies the royal family.
Ms Doe is a US resident and she made the claims in a petition filed on Tuesday to a Federal District Court in the country. The document states: “While she was held captive, she was shown explicit Polaroid photographs— enough to fill a shoebox—of other women or girls who were physically and sexually abused.” A medical examination after her escape confirmed “signs of her physical abuse”, the papers state.
Ms Doe also claims that former Harrods head of security, John McNamara, boasted that the Fayed family could “handle” the Metropolitan Police and was able to commit crimes “with impunity”. She claims she was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement banning her from talking to anyone, including the police, about the alleged abuse.
The claim, obtained by the Mirror, states: “In an effort to seek protection, Jane Doe shared, painfully, the details of her trafficking with a member of the Fayed family, who told her that he knew of others.” The document does not say who Ms Doe says she was abused by. She has instructed the UK law firm Leigh Day to take a civil claim against Harrods and others who she said were complicit in facilitating her alleged abuse.
Ms Doe said she is seeking evidence from Ali Fayed for use in that legal action. She claims that Ali Fayed has “unique and critical evidence regarding the direction, operation, and knowledge of a more than two-decade long trafficking scheme that ensnared and irrevocably injured what is reported to be more than 100 women.” Ms. Doe said she was hired by Harrods aged 19 in the mid-1990s to work as a salesperson.
She claims she was soon interviewed by Al Fayed and invited to work in Harrods’ executive training program, reporting directly to his office.
Ms Doe claims she was subjected to a medical examination that included an AIDS test. She claims in the court filing that she was then taken by Al Fayed aboard in a Harrods helicopter and private jet, and was trafficked, raped and “brutally abused” over a “substantial period of time” while being subject to surveillance.
Ms Doe claims she spoke to Ali Fayed a number of times during this period, detailing in the filing that he joked about her working as a secretary, and that she heard him making arrangements for a woman to be made available to him in London. A judge will now review the claim and Ali Fayed could be required to give evidence and disclose documents.
The legal action comes in the wake of a BBC documentary which revealed a string of rape and abuse claims against the tycoon, who died last year aged 94. Harrods, in response to a request to comment on the new allegations on Tuesday said, “Mr. Ali Fayed ceased to be a director when the business changed ownership in 2010.”
The company acknowledged in a statement in September that it had “failed our employees” who were Al Fayed’s victims and announced that it had established a claims programme for former employees. Alleged victims claim that they were “required” to have invasive tests for sexually transmitted diseases by a doctor, who then shared the results with Al Fayed. Scotland Yard has said 21 alleged victims came forward to accuse Al Fayed of abuse before his death but no charges were ever brought.
The Mirror has contacted one of Ali Fayed’s companies for comment.
