Australian women are among the hundreds of alleged victims who have accused late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual abuse and rape (Fayed is pictured with actress Lucy Liu in 2005 at the opening of the Harrods January sale)

Australian women are among the hundreds of alleged victims who have accused late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual abuse and rape.

More than 400 alleged victims have contacted the legal team working on a case against Al-Fayed, lawyer Dean Armstrong revealed on Thursday.

A BBC documentary in September revealed Al-Fayed, who died last year aged 94, sexually abused female staff at his London department store Harrods, forced them to have medical screenings and threatened consequences if they tried to complain.

‘The sheer scale of abuse perpetrated by Al-Fayed, and facilitated by those around him, sadly, continues to grow,’ Armstrong told a news conference in London.

The ABC reported that six Australian women allege they were sexually assaulted by the former Harrods boss.  

Al-Fayed always denied similar accusations raised by other reports before his death.

When asked for a response, Harrods pointed Reuters to its past statements on the allegations, in which it has apologised, said it was ‘appalled’ by them, and that it had launched a process for any current or former Harrods employees who wished to claim compensation.

Another lawyer, Bruce Drummond, said the more than 400 claims have been made by women from around the world, mostly from Britain but also from the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa and other countries.

Australian women are among the hundreds of alleged victims who have accused late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual abuse and rape (Fayed is pictured with actress Lucy Liu in 2005 at the opening of the Harrods January sale)

Australian women are among the hundreds of alleged victims who have accused late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual abuse and rape (Fayed is pictured with actress Lucy Liu in 2005 at the opening of the Harrods January sale)

‘That, in our opinion, is an industrial scale abuse,’ Drummond said, adding the alleged offences took place ‘within the walls of Harrods’ but also in other locations linked to Al-Fayed’s business empire, such as Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Paris and his estate in Surrey.

More than 400 alleged victims have contacted the legal team working on a case against Al-Fayed, including six Australians (pictured: the sex predator on his yacht in 2018)

More than 400 alleged victims have contacted the legal team working on a case against Al-Fayed, including six Australians (pictured: the sex predator on his yacht in 2018)

Al-Fayed relentlessly courted and cosied up to senior members of the UK Royal family

Al-Fayed relentlessly courted and cosied up to senior members of the UK Royal family 

Victims include the daughter of a former US ambassador to Britain and the daughter of a well-known soccer player, Drummond said, without giving any names.

The BBC documentary said Harrods had failed to intervene and helped to cover up abuse allegations during his ownership.

Lawyers have criticised the Harrods-run compensation scheme, saying some of the victims do not feel comfortable to reach out to Harrods directly for compensation as that is where the abuse unfolded.

Drummond said some senior staff members from the Al-Fayed era still worked at Harrods.

The Financial Times last week reported that four alleged victims had quit the Harrods compensation scheme due to concerns over potential conflicts of interest and poor communication.

Several media organisations had reported allegations of sexual abuse against Al-Fayed before the BBC documentary, including Vanity Fair in 1995, ITV in 1997 and Channel 4 in 2017.

Lawyers said in September many of the women only felt able to speak publicly in the BBC report after he died last year.

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