More than 400 alleged victims have so far contacted the legal team investigating the case of late Egyptian billionaire businessman Mohamed al-Fayed, who is accused of rape and sexual abuse, lawyer Dean Armstrong said today.

A BBC documentary revealed in September that Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, sexually assaulted female employees at London’s Harrods department store, forced them to undergo medical tests and threatened them with consequences if they tried to betray him. denounce.

“The sheer scale of the abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed, facilitated by those around him, sadly continues to growArmstrong said at a press conference in London.

Al Fayed has always denied the accusations leveled against him before his death.

Asked for comment, department store Harrods referred Reuters to earlier statements about the allegations, in which it apologized and said it had launched a process for current and former employees claiming compensation.

Another lawyer, Bruce Drummond, said the more than 400 complaints were made by women around the world. Most came from Britain, while there were also complaints from the US, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and other countries.

“This, in my view, is abuse on an industrial scaleDrummond said, noting that the sexual assaults took place “within the walls of Harrods” but also other locations linked to Al Fayed’s business empire, such as Fulham football club premises, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and his estate in Surrey.

The victims include the daughter of a former US ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a well-known soccer player, he added, without naming them.

The BBC documentary claimed that the Harrods department store did not intervene and helped to cover up the allegations when it was owned by Al Fayed.

Lawyers have criticized Harrods’ compensation scheme, explaining that some of the victims do not feel comfortable contacting the department store directly after being abused there. Drummond said some senior executives from Al Fayed’s time still work at the department store.

Several media outlets had reported on allegations of Al Fayed sexually abusing women before the BBC documentary, including Vanity Fair in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017. Lawyers said in September that many of the women they only felt comfortable speaking to the BBC after Al Fayed’s death last year.