Mohamed Al Fayed’s sexual abuse ‘could happen on the same scale as Jimmy Savile’

Mohamed Al-Fayed‘s sexual abuse may have been on a similar scale to that of Jimmy Saville, a survivor advocate he appointed Harrods has said.

Lady Jasvinder Sanghera was appointed by the department store, formerly owned by Al Fayed, as an independent advocate to address the needs of the late billionaire’s victims.

Dame Jasvinder told the BBC she saw evidence that Al Fayed’s “tentacles went far and wide” as she discussed the extent of the abuse.

“We could be talking about something on the scale of Jimmy Savile,” she said.

After his death in 2011, hundreds of survivors came forward with stories of abuse at the hands of Savile, who used his work at the BBC and at hospitals, prisons and charities to cover up his wrongdoing.

More than 290 people are involved in Harrods’ compensation process, but Dame Jasvinder believes the abuse went beyond the department store.

She said: “When you look at the scale of the abuse, it didn’t just happen in Harrods. I’m already hearing from survivors that this has happened in other areas.”

She said a former student at a school for deaf children told her that Al Fayed “had access to vulnerable young women from that school.”

She said: “What we do know is that there are many people – and survivors have already said this to me – who were complicit (in Al Fayed’s abuse).

“They looked the other way. This could not have happened without people knowing about it, and he used his position of power and influence.”

The school told the BBC that, to its knowledge, Al Fayed did not have access to the school and that it takes security very seriously.

Harrods’ claims process is only open to those employed by the company, but the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said last month that other victims had contacted them from Fulham FC, the Ritz hotel in Paris and elsewhere.

Dame Jasvinder said she would like to hear from the victims, regardless of whether they were abused by Al Fayed in Harrods or elsewhere.

She said: “I would absolutely encourage anyone who is affected by this, or who may know someone who is affected, who just wants to have a conversation about the process, to absolutely contact me.”

Harrods said it “supports the courage of these women to come forward” and urged them to claim the company’s compensation scheme.

Mr Al Fayed acquired Harrods in 1985 for £615 million and sold it to the Qatari royal family for a reported £1.5 billion in 2010.

He died in 2023, aged 94.