Son of now deceased business mogul accuses his father of past sexual abuse.
Mohamed Al Fayed pretended he had dementia so he could evade prosecution for sexual abuse crimes, according to his son. Fayed died last year at 94 years old, but his youngest son, 37-year-old Omar Fayed, is speaking out now.
The now deceased businessman owned the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Harrods department store, and Fulham Football Club. At the time of his death, Forbes estimated his wealth at $2 billion.
Police believe Mohamed Al Fayed may have raped and abused at least 111 women and girls over nearly four decades. In a recent interview, his son compared Fayed to a “Nazi war criminal” and asserted that others allowed his father “off the hook on the grounds he was mentally incapacitated.”
“Afterwards it was back to business – he was as sharp as a tack,” said Omar Fayed. He expressed regret that the investigation was not completed while his father was alive. His statements suggest that police may have missed multiple opportunities to bring forth charges in 2017 and 2018 when the allegations surfaced.
One woman who accused the former Harrods owner of sexual abuse was told by police in 2018 that he was “too old to be prosecuted” and that “he was not in the right state of mind because of dementia.”
A year earlier, Fayed had been the subject of a documentary that stated he sexually harassed young employees, including a 17-year-old he had recruited. An unsuccessful attempt was made to prevent the broadcast of the film on the grounds that Fayed was “mentally incapacitated.”
The legal team cited dementia and consideration of Fayed’s grandchildren as reasons to halt the broadcast. “But I remember thinking at the time that I wasn’t long out of school myself when he did what he did to me,” one of his alleged victims stated.
Cheska Hill-Wood told the documentary that she was sexually assaulted by Fayed in 1993, when she was a 17-year-old aspiring actor, after he approached her to become a personal assistant.
Fayed asked the young girl to change into a swimsuit before filming her under the promise that she would receive support with her acting career. Hill-Wood says that he kissed her, and when she pushed him away, he said: “If you don’t sleep with me, I can’t help you.”
In a recent interview, Cheska Hill-Wood said: “Hearing that he faked illness to escape justice is appalling, but totally consistent with the behaviour of this despicable individual who believed he could act with impunity. It is deeply sad for the sake of so many women that he didn’t face justice when alive.”
In 2013, Fayed was arrested after another rape allegation, but he was never charged.
“From the review so far, it is apparent that past investigations were extensive and conducted by specialist teams… However, we know that contact with and support for some victims at the time could have been improved. Only after completing this comprehensive review will we fully understand what could have been done differently,” police said.
Authors: Alexis Kabat and Andy Goldwasser
