Mohamed Al Fayed accuser criticises Met refusal to investigate trafficking claims | Mohamed Al Fayed

A woman who says she was sexually assaulted by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed has criticized the Metropolitan police for failing to investigate allegations of human trafficking against her over allegations of harassment against her and other women.

Pelham Spong, 40, from South Carolina, attacked the Met after French police interviewed him this week as part of an investigation into human trafficking and pimping allegations linked to Fayed, who died two years ago.

Spong told officers on Monday that she was abducted in Paris on Fayed’s orders in 2008 before being sent to London to be sexually assaulted by Fayed.

He told investigators Central Office for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons owned by Fayed Ritz hotel in ParisHe kissed her forcefully and offered her salary. €$65,000 a year if she sleeps with him.

Spong, who waived her right to anonymity, reported Fayed’s alleged sexual assault to the Met police in 2017. However, the investigation was closed when police said there was not enough evidence to refer the case to prosecutors.

He said: “I think it’s an absolute shame that I had to go to France to call this trafficking. The Met doesn’t call it sex trafficking. How do they expect us to trust this investigation that’s been going on for a year with zero arrests?”

Spong’s French lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune, said her client has been constantly raising allegations of human trafficking since 2017.

He said investigators were trying to determine whether Fayed’s assistants and staff in France, particularly at the Ritz, knew what happened to the women they had arranged to be sent to London and whether there was an understanding between them and the late billionaire.

“There is a problem for the institution itself as well as for the individuals,” Le Jeune said of the Ritz. “A place that facilitates the recruitment and transfer of young women to London?”

He added: “The ongoing investigation must establish whether the Ritz and some of its staff were aware of the acts attributed to Mr Al Fayed and whether they played any role in the recruitment and transfer to the UK of any persons employed by him, knowing the circumstances in which these acts allegedly took place.”

Spong explained that she was required to undergo a special gynecological examination in London, the results of which were relayed to Fayed, who appeared to know that she had been diagnosed with a minor bacterial infection.

Bridgette Carr, clinical professor of law and Human Trafficking and Migration Clinic Fayed, of the University of Michigan Law School, said the allegations amounted to human trafficking.

Carr advised on a human trafficking case. Abuse of Jeffrey EpsteinHe said the testimonies of the alleged Fayed victims he spoke to contained elements of sex trafficking and forced labor.

“What is consistent across all of their stories is the power and control that human trafficking requires and the systematic involvement of many different individuals and companies,” he said.

Fayed is also alleged to have transferred his female staff from the Ritz to his private residence in Paris and to yachts and family homes on the Mediterranean coast.

Carr said: “The untold story of human trafficking, told in part by Epstein and perhaps in part by Fayed, is that the most effective traffickers don’t do anything themselves, so they rely on systems that they can work for them. They don’t have to go out on the street and grab women and girls, instead they have an office where they walk down the hall and ask them to do it.”

In August, the Met said 146 people had reported crimes as part of its investigation into Fayed. Fayed’s associates who may have “assisted or facilitated” his alleged rape and sexual assault are also being investigated.

The Met voluntarily referred him to the UK police watchdog in January following complaints from Spong and another woman about previous investigations into Fayed. Although he accused 21 female businessmen between 2005 and 2023, he was never charged.

Spong’s complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct said Met officers failed to challenge Fayed’s claim that he was too ill to respond to an allegation of sexual assault. His lawyer’s letter to the watchdog said this reflected “indifference to the victims” or “an institutional desire to keep Mr Al Fayed away from the investigation”.

Last year, allegations emerged that corrupt Met police officers had helped Fayed persecute members of staff, including a young woman who allegedly turned down the sexual advances of the owner of Harrods.

The Ritz Paris said in a statement that it was “deeply alarmed” by the reported allegations of misconduct and would fully cooperate with French judicial authorities.

A spokesman said: “Our teams do not tolerate any inappropriate behavior and would like to express our deepest condolences to the women who have come forward.”

The Met police have been approached for comment.