Mohamed Al Fayed evaded prosecution by tricking police into believing he had dementia, one of his sons reveals today.
Omar Fayed, 37, said deception allowed his billionaire father to escape justice for his alleged sex crimes, now believed to involve dozens of women.
“He got off the hook by claiming he was mentally incapacitated,” Omar told The Mail on Sunday today. But the tycoon did not suffer from dementia and was actually “as clever as a tack.”
Sources have told this newspaper that Scotland Yard, which has faced criticism for failing to bring the Harrods owner to justice, is examining the astonishing claim as part of its investigation into those suspected of helping him in his alleged crimes.
Lawyers for the victims describe Al Fayed as a predator on the scale of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
His youngest son, a technology entrepreneur who would one day inherit Harrods, claims he suffers from dementia in a wide-ranging interview in which he sheds light on his father’s motives.
Omar, who was “horrified” by the abuse allegations, said he wished “the investigation could have taken its course when he was still alive” and suggests police missed the opportunity to prosecute when allegations emerged in 2017 and 2018, when His father was over 80 years old.
One woman, who claimed to have been abused by Al Fayed and made a video statement to police in 2018, was told that Al Fayed was too old to be prosecuted and was not in the right mental state due to his dementia.
Omar Fayed, 37, said deception allowed his billionaire father (pictured together) to escape justice for his alleged sex crimes, now believed to involve dozens of women.
Omar Fayed (pictured) says he can now ‘connect the dots’ about his father, billionaire tycoon Harrods
The billionaire Harrods tycoon, who died last year aged 94, was one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders.
His youngest son, a tech entrepreneur who would one day inherit Harrods (pictured), claims he suffers from dementia in a wide-ranging interview in which he sheds light on his father’s motives.
In 2017, Al Fayed was the subject of a complaint by the Channel 4 show Dispatches. In it, he was accused of sexually harassing young employees, including a 17-year-old boy he recruited.
At the time, there was an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the broadcast by claiming that Al Fayed was mentally incapacitated.
Last night, the documentary’s executive producer, Tom Porter, said: “We had our suspicions about whether the illness claim was genuine, but we couldn’t verify it in any way.”
Bravely waiving her right to anonymity, Cheska Hill-Wood, now 50, told the program that she was a 17-year-old aspiring actress who had recently completed a debutante photo shoot when she was approached “out of the blue” to becoming Al. Fayed’s junior personal assistant in 1993.
Al Fayed quickly told her that her eldest son, Dodi, a film producer who died with Princess Diana in Paris four years later, could help her in her acting career.
Hill-Wood went to Al Fayed’s apartment, where he asked her to put on a swimsuit before filming her, supposedly so his son could see her “shape.”
He then kissed her and, after she pushed him away, barked, “If you don’t sleep with me, I can’t help you.” He then fled the apartment and did not return to work for Al Fayed.
Hill-Wood said yesterday: “To hear that he feigned illness to escape justice is appalling, but entirely consistent with the behavior of this despicable individual who believed he could act with impunity.” “It is deeply sad for the sake of so many women that he did not face justice in his lifetime.”
He said the attempt to block the program was a “disgrace”, adding: “The legal letter said he had dementia and we should consider his grandchildren as they are in school.” But I remember thinking at the time that I had not long left school when he did what he did to me.
Omar, center, with his father Mohamed and sister Camilla at a fashion show in New York.
Omar, her father Mohamed Al Fayed, who may have raped and abused more than 111 women over almost four decades.
Cheska Hill-Wood went to Al Fayed’s apartment where he asked her to put on a swimsuit before filming her, supposedly so her son could see her “shape”.
Lawyers for the victims describe Al Fayed as a predator on the scale of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
He said the Dispatches program pulled no punches in its portrayal of Al Fayed, but did not inflame the scandal in the same way that the BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods did in September. “No doubt because by then Al Fayed was already dead,” he said. The tycoon died last year at the age of 94.
“But the women did go to the police after Dispatches, which was fantastic.”
Detectives launched a new criminal investigation last month after identifying more than five suspects who allegedly helped the Harrods boss carry out “horrendous abuses”. This follows a surge in sexual assault allegations from a total of 111 victims, with the youngest said to be just 13 years old.
Al Fayed was arrested in 2013 on a rape allegation, but was never charged.
Television producer Keaton Stone, whose six-year investigation led to the BBC documentary, is among those who have publicly criticized the Met.
He was angry that officers refused to pursue his wife Sophia’s sexual assault case against Al Fayed in June 2021. Officers cited poor health as the reason Al Fayed was unfit to face the charges.
Detectives are now investigating allegations of rape, sexual assault and trafficking spanning nearly four decades, from 1977 to 2014.
An internal Met Police review is also underway into how the force handled complaints about Al Fayed while he was alive, amid allegations of corruption and reports that officers were taking bribes to enable him to continue taking advantage of Harrods staff. .
In 2017, Al Fayed was the subject of a complaint by the Channel 4 show Dispatches. In it, he was accused of sexually harassing young employees, including a 17-year-old boy he recruited.
Scotland Yard approached the Crown Prosecution Service on five occasions between 2005 and 2023 in relation to Al Fayed, but in none of the cases were charges brought despite growing concerns about predatory behaviour.
The Met declined to comment on the dementia claim, but said in a statement: “No criminal charges were brought against Al Fayed while he was alive and we recognize the impact this has had on many victims.”
‘From the review so far it is clear that previous investigations were extensive and carried out by specialist teams who sought charging decisions from the CPS on two occasions.
‘However, we know that contact and support for some victims could have been improved at that time.
“Only after completing this comprehensive review will we fully understand what could have been done differently.”