Survivors of abuse at the hands of billionaire Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have called on the Metropolitan Police to look beyond a small number of individuals to the wider trafficking network.
It comes after Met Police officers investigating offending linked to Al Fayed announced it had submitted a file of evidence about a man in his 80s to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision. The file relates to two indecent assaults on two women in London.
Seven suspects interviewed
To date, seven suspects have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of offences including aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, assisting in the commission of sexual offences and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
An advocacy group led by survivors of Al Fayed and linked perpetrators called No One Above has said the submission is “a start”, but emphasised the need for the investigation to look at “recruitment, movement, financing and the people and institutions that facilitated exploitation”.
Survivors’ demands
The survivors said: “The submission of this file is a start — but a single file on a single individual is not, on its own, the trafficking investigation this case has always warranted, and which we have been campaigning for over almost two years.
“This was not one bad man, and not corporate abuse. It was a trafficking network of multiple perpetrators, backed by an international criminal organisation — and the evidence continues to prove that argument right.
“We call on the Metropolitan Police to confirm three things about Operation Cornpoppy: that human trafficking and modern slavery are the primary framework of the investigation; that financial investigators have been brought in to follow the money that funded and concealed the network; and that all financial and documentary evidence of the network’s operations is being actively secured before it is lost.
“This is Britain’s largest single sex-trafficking case. A trafficking investigation is defined by what a sexual-offences investigation leaves untouched — recruitment, movement, financing, and the people and institutions that facilitated exploitation.
“That evidence — bank records, corporate documents, the paper trail of a network operating across decades and borders — cannot be recovered once it is gone. Securing it is not a later stage of this investigation. It is the investigation.
“To the survivors who came forward after decades of silence: this is your courage. We stand with you.”
Scale of allegations
More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Al Fayed and other perpetrators linked to him, dating between 1977 and 2014, including sexual assault, rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
The Met are dealing with at least 156 victims who contacted them directly, including 21 who came forward before Al Fayed’s death in 2023 at the age of 94.
The investigation, known as Operation Cornpoppy, was launched in November 2024 and is looking at people who may have facilitated or enabled Al Fayed’s crimes.
Seven people have been questioned under caution: four women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 80s, and three men in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
Co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Survivors of Mohamed Fayed and Harrods, Labour MP Dave Robertson and Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain, said the submission is a “huge moment” for many survivors.
They said: “This will be a huge moment for many survivors – whether this first charging decision relates to them or not.
“As a group they have been waiting years, and in some cases decades, for justice.
“We are pleased to see the Metropolitan Police pushing ahead in its investigation by referring this charge file to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision.”
“We recently met with the force, who assured us that progress on the investigation is accelerating, and we will keep supporting survivors to be heard by the all the in.”
The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
The Met emailed Fayed survivor groups on Monday saying: “Met Police detectives have today submitted a full evidential file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision.
“The file relates to one suspect, a man in his 80s, and relates to two indecent assaults on two women in London. Officers will continue to work closely with CPS prosecutors as the case progresses.
“To date, seven suspects have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of offences including aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault, assisting in the commission of sexual offences, and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
“This remains a complex and highly sensitive investigation. Our focus is on pursuing all available lines of enquiry, maintaining the integrity of the investigation, and supporting those who have come forward.”
