Three women interviewed on suspicion of sex trafficking in Al Fayed investigation
Three women were carefully interviewed for crimes including human trafficking and facilitating rape as part of the investigation into former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed, the Metropolitan Police said.
The Met said three women in their 40s, 50s and 60s were interviewed between February 25 and March 5.
Police said they were questioned on suspicion of aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, aiding in the commission of sexual offenses and human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Leigh Day, the law firm representing some of the survivors, said it hoped this was “the tip of the iceberg in relation to people on the Met’s radar”.
Emma Jones, partner at law firm Leigh Day, said they welcomed the expansion of the investigation but were “concerned to see only three suspects questioned discreetly”.
He added that it was “surprising” that all of the interviewees were women, “given our clients’ accounts and the details already publicly available.”
The Met’s announcement comes after a former senior Met officer recently told the BBC that the investigation into Al Fayed’s rape and sexual abuse allegations should be broadened to include human trafficking.
Many women have accused Al Fayed, who owned the luxury Harrods department store between 1985 and 2010, of rape and sexual assault. He passed away in 2023 at the age of 94.
At the time of most of the alleged attacks, Fayed owned Harrods, the Ritz Paris hotel and Fulham FC football club.
The Met Police said on Friday that no arrests had been made and the investigation was ongoing.
To date, police said 154 victims have come forward and reported allegations of sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
It said the information collected from these victims “expanded the scope of the investigation to include all reported crimes, including human trafficking.”
Met Police Commander Angela Craggs said the update “marked a significant step in a complex and wide-ranging investigation” and that “victims remain at the centre”.
“Although Al Fayed is no longer alive to face prosecution, we remain determined to bring to justice anyone suspected of playing a role in his crimes,” Craggs added.
The Met has previously said it was investigating people in Al Fayed’s circle who might have enabled him to commit more than 400 sexual assault crimes that allegedly occurred over decades from 1977 to 2014.
Earlier this week Phil Brewer, the former head of the Met’s anti-trafficking unit, told the BBC he could not understand why the operation was not already a trafficking investigation.
Brewer said it made sense to turn Operation Cornpoppy, which investigates the role individuals played in facilitating or enabling Al Fayed’s alleged crime, into a human trafficking investigation.
He said this would broaden his “investigative strategy”.
The Met Police have appealed for anyone with information about the investigation to contact them, adding that information can be shared with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or anonymously via the online form.
Harrods has previously said it “apologizes unreservedly for Fayed’s sexual abuse of survivors” and has set up a compensation plan for his victims.
The store also told the BBC earlier this week that an independent external investigation into whether current employees were aware of the alleged abuse was “now concluded”.
The store has reached financial agreements with the majority of people who have applied to it since 2023.
