At least five Mohamed Al-Fayed sex abuse survivors were victims of human trafficking - including inside Harrods and billionaire's Hyde Park home

At least five women who were sexually abused by billionaire Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed were victims of human trafficking.Their experiences include both international and domestic trafficking and a case of trafficking within the Harrods building itself, the Home Office confirmed.More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Al Fayed, dating between 1977 and 2014, including sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation.Survivors say the decision to identify them as victims of modern slavery suggests there is a 'wider network of perpetrators'.One woman said she was recruited to a false role within Harrods, while two were hired for a legitimate role and then selected for abuse off the shop floor.Another survivor was employed as a domestic worker for a member of the Fayed family after being recruited via a letting agency called Hyde Park Residence.Their cases date back as early as the nineties, while the most recent took place after the 2010 sale of Harrods.All five survivors have received conclusive grounds decisions from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) that they are victims of modern slavery, after being referred by the charity Unseen UK. Billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed (pictured), who died in 2023, has had more than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to 1977 brought against him Harrods' Knightsbridge store. Egyptian tycoon Al Fayed had business interests including the Hotel Ritz Paris and Fulham Football Club The NRM is the UK's official framework for identifying victims of modern slavery, including human trafficking, forced labour and servitude.On April 29 2026, it was reported that Rachel Louw had received a positive conclusive grounds decision, after reporting abuse suffered at the hands of Mohamed Al Fayed and his brother Salah.Since then, all four members of an advocacy group for Al Fayed survivors called No One Above have also received conclusive grounds decisions that they are victims of modern slavery: Justine, Elizabeth, Margo and Isabella, all pseudonyms.While their cases have been confirmed, it is understood there are more survivors who have also received positive conclusive grounds decisions.Justine worked at Harrods for more than three years in the nineties, and was trafficked and abused during this time.She described feeling 'shell shocked' when she received the conclusive grounds decision in June that she had been a victim of modern slavery.Justine said: 'It's not something I realised was happening to me at the time, so it's all part of this journey that we're on now in reliving this experience, and actually really understanding what happened to us, which is very difficult.'She added: 'But it's a really significant thing, getting that decision, seeing it in writing that you were a victim of modern slavery and trafficking is very… it's really shocking to read.' Al-Fayed is now widely regarded as one of Britain's most notorious sex offenders Justine said this is 'concrete confirmation' from the Home Office that Al Fayed survivors were victims of human trafficking and that the scope of experiences are wide: from domestic to international trafficking, from those who worked at Harrods to those not involved with Harrods at all.She said the ruling is 'very significant' because Harrods' position has been that the abuse was just the actions of 'one bad man', and that there is nothing they can do now he is dead.Justine said: 'These decisions illustrate that that is not the case at all.'Elizabeth was also a Harrods employee and received a conclusive grounds decision that she was a victim of modern slavery in May.She said all the survivors in the Al Fayed case are victims of human trafficking, because it was all one system that recruited, exploited and silenced victims.She added: 'Everybody connected with this case is a trafficking victim, because it was all one system.'You can't say that victim A wasn't trafficked and victim B was.'I think there's this persistent misunderstanding, possibly within the Metropolitan Police themselves, which is scary, that trafficking only involves being moved across international borders.'There have been positive conclusive grounds trafficking decisions in cases where the trafficking occurred within the Harrods building.'Margo was a domestic worker for the Fayed family after the sale of Harrods, and was recruited via a letting agency called Hyde Park Residence.She received a positive conclusive grounds decision that she was a victim of human trafficking in July.Margo said she had not felt like a victim of trafficking 'because really I didn't know what trafficking was, especially domestic trafficking'.She said Al Fayed's trafficking network went 'so beyond Harrods'.'This was Balnagown, it was Saint-Tropez, it was Fayair, it was Fulham Football Club, it was Hyde Park Residence.'Everywhere he went he had enablers, and everywhere he went he had the capacity to abuse. All of his residences, all of his businesses,' she added.Margo said she did not originally come forward because she did not work at Harrods.She said: 'There has just been so much emphasis put on Harrods to the point where I believe that there are so many more victims that haven't come forward because they believe that it's solely a Harrods issue.'I know of one other Hyde Park Residence victim, but there has to be hundreds more somewhere.'Isabella worked in the chairman's office at Harrods in 2001. She received her conclusive grounds decision that she was a victim of trafficking in May.She said: 'I think one thing that the public doesn't understand is they think this was one bad man, but he couldn't have done what he did without Harrods processing women to him and silencing them afterwards.'And it wasn't just Harrods, obviously. It was any entity that Al Fayed owned or had control of.'It was his yachts, his aviation business, the Ritz Paris, his properties all over France and Monaco, it went as far as the States and the UAE - anywhere that man touched.'It was not just Mohamed Al Fayed either, she said, but 'a wider network of perpetrators'.Isabella added: 'We are not aware of any negative decisions in this case, and there have now been many self-initiated referrals through Unseen.'The Met Police are investigating at least 156 alleged victims of Al Fayed who contacted them directly, including 21 who came forward before his death in 2023 at the age of 94.The investigation, known as Operation Cornpoppy, is looking at people who may have facilitated or enabled Al Fayed's crimes.Four people have been questioned to date, 19 months after the investigation opened.The Home Office said: 'Our heartfelt condolences go out to all those affected by this distressing case. We are fully committed to supporting victims and giving survivors the support and certainty they need to recover.'Our (violence against women and girls) strategy sets out how the full power of the state will be deployed to deliver the largest ever crackdown on violence against women and girls in British history.'