The Investigation Is Growing

The Metropolitan Police is looking into people who may have helped or allowed Mohamed Al Fayed — a wealthy businessman who died in August 2023 — to commit sexual crimes. The investigation has grown significantly.

When police formally opened their inquiry in November 2024, 90 victims had come forward. Now the Met says 154 people have made allegations. These include sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.

Four people have been interviewed by police so far. What matters is that investigators are no longer just looking at what Al Fayed did — they're examining who may have covered for him or enabled his crimes.

This shift happened after a BBC documentary in September 2024 exposed the allegations publicly. Survivors have been speaking out ever since, and their accounts have pushed police to broaden their investigation.

Who Are the Survivors and What Do They Want?

A group of survivors calling themselves No One Above (NOA) represents many of the victims. They're asking that these cases be officially treated as human trafficking, not just individual sexual crimes.

This distinction matters legally. Under the Modern Slavery Act, human trafficking cases can look at whether institutions — like the company Al Fayed ran — helped or ignored the abuse. It shifts focus from a single person to everyone involved.

In May 2025, survivors wrote to the government asking for a statutory public inquiry. This is a formal investigation with real legal power: the government can compel people to testify and hand over documents. Survivors say they need this level of authority because the alleged cover-up was so widespread.

According to the BBC, the government said it was sceptical about whether a public inquiry would help or whether these cases should be treated as trafficking. That response signals political hesitation rather than a clear legal reason to say no — especially because the government has already officially recognized at least one survivor as a trafficking victim.

The Government's Trafficking Decision

In April 2026, Care reported that the Home Office officially declared Rachel Louw a victim of trafficking and modern slavery. She alleges abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed and his brother Salah, and the government found she was moved across the UK and France for sexual exploitation.

This official finding carries weight. It means the government itself has concluded that at least one person was trafficked — which backs up what survivors are saying about human trafficking being the right framework. Yet the government also expressed doubt about a trafficking investigation, which creates a tension that hasn't been publicly explained.

The fact that crimes allegedly happened in France adds another layer of complexity. French authorities have their own investigative powers, and police may need to request their help formally. The Met hasn't publicly said whether they've done so.

Harrods and Who Else May Be Responsible

The investigation isn't just about Al Fayed as an individual. It's also looking at Harrods, the luxury department store he owned, and whether staff there helped him or looked the other way.

No One Above reports that Harrods' structure enabled sexual abuse, with some employees allegedly involved in trafficking women to Al Fayed. A former employee filed a lawsuit in a US court asking Al Fayed's brother to testify about what he knew. CSE Institute has documented allegations that Harrods covered up the crimes. Other former staff say they were raped or trafficked while working there.

Harrods is now owned by Qatar's government investment fund. The store has said the allegations are "abhorrent" and promised to cooperate with investigators. But survivors have asked Harrods not to share their personal information with Al Fayed's estate, because that information could be used against them in lawsuits.

The alleged crimes span from 2005 to 2023, according to the Guardian. Police say at least 154 women came forward, with cases reaching as far as Australia. ABC News reported that six Australian women made allegations, showing how geographically spread the alleged conduct was.

Why This Pattern Matters

We've seen this structure before: a powerful person uses a well-known institution as a place to find victims, while the institution's reputation protects him. The Jimmy Savile case followed a similar pattern.

What's different here is that the Al Fayed case explicitly involves human trafficking across borders, and it centers on a private company — Harrods — rather than a public institution. That distinction has real consequences. When inquiries examined the BBC and the NHS in past cases, those organizations had to answer to Parliament. A private company like Harrods is harder to compel to open its records and cooperate — which is why survivors are pushing for a statutory inquiry with the legal power to demand documents and testimony.

What Happens Next

Four things are happening at once. First, the Met's criminal investigation into people who allegedly facilitated the crimes is ongoing, with four people already interviewed. Second, the government must decide whether to hold a statutory inquiry, a decision that will partly depend on political will. Third, a lawsuit in Connecticut is trying to force testimony from Al Fayed's brother. Fourth, civil cases are proceeding separately, with disputes over whether survivors' personal data should be shared with Al Fayed's estate.

The central questions going forward are straightforward: Can investigators prove that Harrods as an institution enabled these crimes? Will the government use all the legal tools it has available? And can a private company be held truly accountable — or will it stay just beyond reach?