Mohamed Al-Fayed accusers criticise UK trafficking probe

Women who allege Mohamed Al-Fayed sexually abused or exploited them say London's Metropolitan Police is missing a wider trafficking network in its investigation, accusations the force denies.

At least seven survivors of the late Harrods owner's alleged sexual offences have been recognised this year by the UK Home Office as victims of human trafficking. Several told AFP that the Met's Operation Cornpoppy is not going far enough to investigate what they called the infrastructure of trafficking around Fayed.

The Met launched the operation in 2024 after a BBC documentary about decades of abuse against Harrods employees. Police say 163 victims have reported allegations of sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking in relation to Fayed, who died in 2023 without being charged.

Women described alleged abuse linked not only to Harrods but also to central London apartments, the Ritz hotel in Paris, Fulham Football Club and Fayed's private jets. The force said it is in touch with investigators in France, where a trafficking unit is handling allegations against Mohamed Al-Fayed and his brother Salah Fayed.

Joanna Brittan, who first approached the Met in 2017, said an officer told her this year that Operation Cornpoppy needed to focus on Fayed and Harrods or it would become unmanageable. The Home Office recognised this year that Brittan was trafficked in London, Oxted, the Ritz and Cannes.

The Met said it has identified at least 70 potential trafficking victims and plans to refer them to the UK's National Referral Mechanism. It has questioned seven people suspected of enabling Fayed, but no arrests have been made.

One serving Met officer and four former officers are also being investigated by Britain's police watchdog over their handling of allegations made against Fayed between 2008 and 2013.

A Met spokesperson said the force would continue to seek justice for Mohamed Al-Fayed's victims and assess all victim testimony for evidence of human trafficking.