A fomer Harrods employee has told in an emotional testimony how “highly manipulative” Mohamed Al Fayed preyed upon her by having medics subject her to sexual health tests without consent to check her “purity”.
The woman, named as Natacha, told how she had been lured to his residence under the pretext of a meeting about work.
She spoke on Friday at a press conference held by lawyers representing victims alleging sexual abuse by the former Harrods chairman.
The billionaire businessman, who died in 2023 and owned Harrods from 1985 to 2010, “behaved like a father figure” in a predatory ploy to earn the trust of vulnerable women he went on to abuse, it is alleged.
She told the press conference: “Mohamed was clever and highly manipulative.
"He behaved like a father figure, often saying 'call me papa', often talking about his family and children, as if to make me feel safe around him.
"Unbeknownst to me, I had walked into a lion's den, a layer of cover-ups, deceit, lies, manipulation, humiliation, and gross sexual misconduct.
"The chairman preyed on the most vulnerable, those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn't have parents to protect them."
Al Fayed organised for medics to subject her to “aids and STD testing without consent, and now believe in hindsight, I was checked for my purity,” she said.
At private meetings, he would forcibly kiss her, “his hands gripping your face to his lips or pulling you down on his lap, where his hands were free to explore any part of your body that he wished”.
She added: "These incidents lasted seconds, but the fear instilled left me paralysed.
"Al Fayed brushed off these moments like they had never happened, but I was always reminded not to mention them to anyone."
One evening, he attempted to force himself upon her at his private residence, leaving her terrified, she said.
“The door was locked behind me... I saw his bedroom door partially open - there were sex toys on view.
"I felt petrified. I perched myself at the very end of the sofa and then... Mohamed Al Fayed, my boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself onto me."
Natacha said as Mr Al Fayed was on top of her she managed to "kick free and free myself".
She continued: "I ran towards the door. I told him I was meeting my father for dinner and he would be worried that I was late.
"He laughed at me - he then composed himself and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was never to breathe a word of this to anyone - if I did I would never work in London again and he knew where my family lived.
“I felt scared and sick."
Natacha is one of 37 women represented by lawyers who allege Harrods turned a blind eye to Al Fayed’s “web of abuse” between 1985 and 2010.
The alleged victims’ legal team have described him as a "monster" whose case involves the "most horrific elements of ... Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein".
Five women alleged they had been raped by Mr Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, with a number of others alleging sexual misconduct.
A press conference which set out the claims made against the late Harrods' owner heard there was a "systematic failure of corporate responsibility".
A Harrods spokesperson said it is “appalled” by the claims of sexual abuse under the previous owner, and that is has been settling claims brought by victims as quickly as possible.
“These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms,” a spokesperson said.
“We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise. We are doing everything we can to fix this.
“The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do.”
