Harrods apologized to its employees on Thursday over the late owner Mohamed Al Fayed's alleged sexual abuse.
The London department store was bought by Al Fayed, an Egypt-born businessman, in the mid-1980s. Dozens of Harrods employees reported both sexual and physical abuse at the hands of Al Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94.
"We failed our colleagues and for that we are deeply sorry," Michael Ward, the managing director of Harrods, said in a statement on Thursday.
Five women have claimed to the BBC that they were raped by Al Fayed, and several others allege acts of assault and physical violence. Attorneys of the alleged victims say they have been retained by 37 women and counting.
"This was a shameful period in the business' history," Ward's statement said. "However, the Harrods of today is unrecognizable to Harrods under his ownership."
Ward said it is clear Al Fayed "resided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct."
While the managing director said he was "not aware of [Al Fayed's] criminality and abuse" during the four years he worked for him, he did say that "rumors of his behavior circulated in the public domain."
London's Metropolitan Police has said that 19 women reported allegations against Al Fayed to them between 2005 and 2023. Three reports were allegations of rape, 15 were of sexual assault, and one was related to trafficking.
In 2008, Al Fayed was probed by police over the alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old. In 2009 and 2015, law enforcement gave evidence about him to the Crown Prosecution Service, the British government's justice department. However, Al Fayed was never charged.
The Metropolitan Police said on Thursday that they were reviewing the allegations to see if there were any new leads. Police encouraged other victims to come forward, saying, "We must ensure we fully explore whether any other individuals could be pursued for any criminal offences."
Al Fayed, who moved to Britain in the 1960s, became a popular figure through Harrods and his ownership of the London soccer team Fulham. He also gained notoriety through unfortunate circumstances when his son, film producer Dodi Al Fayed, was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 with Diana, Princess of Wales, whom he was dating at the time.
Al Fayed peddled the conspiracy theory for years that the royal family was behind the car accident because they disapproved of Diana dating Dodi. However, investigators concluded that the pair's death was due to the reckless actions of their driver, who was an employee of the Ritz Hotel in Paris owned by Al Fayed, and paparazzi who were chasing the couple on the road.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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