Met is investigating 40 new allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed

Police today revealed they are investigating 40 new allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed and others since the broadcast of the BBC's bombshell documentary.

The Met said it had been contacted by numerous people since the investigation into the former Harrods and Fulham FC owner was published last month.

The 40 new allegations relate to 40 alleged victims and are in addition to allegations police were aware of before the BBC's investigation and documentary, Scotland Yard said.

Before the recent media coverage, 21 allegations were made against the late billionaire which resulted in crimes being recorded relating to 21 separate women between 2005 and 2023.

The offences were alleged to have taken place between 1979 and 2013. Four of the reports were allegations of rape, 16 were sexual assault and one related to trafficking, the Met said.

The Crown Prosecution Service was approached by Scotland Yard on five occasions between 2005 and 2023, the force said, but no further action was taken against Mr Al Fayed.

The force said that while it would not be possible to bring criminal proceedings against Mr Al Fayed - who died last year aged 94 - it would 'continue to explore whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences'.

'Predator' Al Fayed said: 'Call me papa' 

'Sick predator' Mohamed Al Fayed told his female staff to call him 'papa', one of his alleged victims has revealed. 

The woman, who went by the name of Natacha, described the billionaire as a 'monster' who was '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.'

She continued: '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.' 

Met Commander Stephen Clayman said: 'Since the broadcast of the documentary and our recent appeal, detectives have received numerous pieces of information, predominantly relating to the activities of Mohamed Al Fayed but some relating to the actions of others.

'This has led to us record 40 new allegations, relating to 40 victim-survivors and covering offences including sexual assault and rape across a time period between 1979 and 2013. These are in addition to allegations we were aware of prior to the broadcast.

'I recognise the courage it will have taken for people to take that step to speak to us about their experiences and I want to reassure anyone who has yet to make contact that we have specially trained detectives who will listen to you and support you.

'All these reports will need to be formally logged and assessed to see if there are any allegations of criminality that can be pursued. This will take time, but we will ensure those who contact us are kept updated with progress.

'We also continue work to make contact with lawyers representing individuals who have come directly to them, to ensure they are aware of our request to speak to police so any crimes can be recorded and the relevant support provided.

'While the majority of information we have received relates to Al Fayed's ownership of Harrods, we are contacting representatives of other organisations linked to Al Fayed to ensure anyone affected is identified and has the opportunity to speak with us.

An avalanche of rape and assault claims began last month with a BBC documentary saying at least 20 women who had worked at Harrods in London said they had been raped or molested by the flamboyant Egyptian tycoon who bought the iconic department store in 1985.

An additional 65 women have since approached the broadcaster, with similar claims from as long ago as 1977, before he bought Harrods.

It suggests Al Fayed's reign of sexual terror, first reported on in the 1990s, but with police repeatedly failing to prosecute, could have been even longer and wider than already feared.

While he died aged 83 five years ago, lawyers are now acting for many victims, far in excess of those who have spoken to the BBC, in a quest for damages and some form of justice.

Harrods told the BBC yesterday: 'Since the airing of the documentary, so far there are 200-plus individuals who are now in the Harrods process to settle claims directly with the business.'

Of the 65 new 'victims' to approach the BBC over the last three weeks, 37 worked for Harrods.

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Another 28 did not however, saying he launched vile sex attacks on them under the guise of hiring them to join his domestic staff, simply in the course of a vague 'interview', or even against a member of BBC staff.

The earliest allegation, dated in 1977, has come from a woman called Sheenagh, 72, who waived her anonymity to tell journalists the documentary prompted her to ask herself: 'Was I the start?'

She was in Dubai at the time working in a bank, while her husband worked in building. The emirate was in its modern infancy then - but Al Fayed was also there, making his fortune by winning lucrative contracts including on the construction of the port.

According to Sheenagh, the tycoon, then in his early 40s, was among her customers at the bank - and after repeatedly engaging her in conversation, had invited her to a meeting 'about a job', at his nearby office.

As she sat opposite him at a desk, she claimed, he walked round behind her, continuing: 'As I turned the hands came over my shoulders. His hands were everywhere.'

Sheenagh said she fled to the door to escape his sexual assault, and only managed to do so after slapping him.

She claimed her told her 'You may come to regret that' - and went on to stalk her.

Sheenagh claimed there were 20 stalking incidents, at work, in the street, at her social club, and at a supermarket, at which he repeated his sinister threat and even on occasion groped her again.

Only when she learned he had left Dubai did she breathe easy - but she waited till 2015, when her husband was virtually on his deathbed, to finally tell him what had happened, saying 'It was the only secret I'd ever kept from him'.

She added that she regretted not telling authorities prior to Al Fayed's death.

Another alleged victim from beyond Harrods, given the pseudonym Margot by the BBC, said she saw an advert Al Fayed placed in The Lady magazine in 1985 - and applied, aged 19, for a job as a nanny and governess. A photo was requested.

But she was surprised her interview ended with her being asked 'if I had a boyfriend or if I've ever had a boyfriend'. The interviewer 'looked relieved' when she said she never had.

Margot said she then got the job - at her mother's insistence trying a one month trial - and was driven in a chauffeured limousine into Al Fayed's mansion, Barrow Green Court in Oxted.

Once inside she would be summoned by internal phone from her small dark bedroom, only to almost always find she was alone with Al Fayed, variously at the indoor pool, in the gardens, or study, and then be sexually assaulted.

She said he also finally raped her in her bed at night, before she demanded to leave - despite being offered a house - and after being 'kept against my will for several days' she finally got out, with a warning to keep quiet.

'He didn't need a nanny,' Margot said. 'I was recruited as a potential sex partner or plaything.'

Other women told the BBC they were similarly abused after being spuriously hired as nannies, chefs, or maids. A florist and even a BBC make-up artist preparing Al Fayed for an interview have also made allegations.