More and more revelations about the past of the tycoon and owner of Harrods, Mohammed al-Fayed, who is accused posthumously by former employees of rape and sexual assault. More than 150 women are believed to have fallen victim to him.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has admitted it twice failed to bring charges of rape and sexual abuse against Mohammed al-Fayed. In particular, its representative stated that the evidence against him was given to prosecutors by the Metropolitan Police twice but were not sufficient to establish charges.

In 2008, al-Fayed was accused of sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl, which he refused. The CPS did not prosecute the case at the time due to insufficient evidence.

Nextallegedly raped a woman in 2013, whose case was re-investigated by police in 2015 but led to no charges.

While the CPS reviewed both files, its spokesman said: “In order to prosecute, the CPS must be satisfied that there is a prospect of a conviction. In any event, our prosecutors carefully reviewed the evidence and concluded that they did not have sufficient evidence.”

It is the first time the agency has acknowledged the 2015 investigation. The CPS also provided police with advice on early investigations into al-Fayed in 2018, 2021 and 2023. But full evidence was never obtained in those cases with resulting in the police closing the cases.

Lawyers for the victims confirmed on Saturday that they had received “over 150 new complaints” following the screening of the BBC documentary on al-Fayed.

The former Harrods owner, who died last year aged 94, was described as a “monster” by lawyers representing his alleged victims. The women say he raped and sexually assaulted them while they worked at the luxury department store and accused him of “handpicking” the women he would take to his suite.