French authorities have initiated an investigation into allegations of sex trafficking linked to the late businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, who passed away two years ago.
The inquiry, mandated by the Paris prosecutor’s office, will reportedly focus on “potential acts of aggravated human trafficking… with multiple victims,” according to documents reviewed by the BBC. The investigation will also encompass allegations of prostitution and a reported instance of rape.
Al Fayed’s Ritz Hotel in Paris is expected to be a focal point of the investigation, following claims from alleged victims that staff members were aware of or facilitated the abuse of women.
In a released statement, the Ritz expressed “deep alarm” regarding the allegations and pledged its “full” cooperation with the authorities.
The trafficking investigation represents a significant development in a series of legal battles associated with Al Fayed’s alleged crimes and the ongoing pursuit of justice for his purported victims, both before and after his death.
Pelham Spong, a 40-year-old American woman, is reported to have played a pivotal role in prompting the French investigation, which alleges that Al Fayed relocated young female staff from the Ritz to his private residence in Paris and various yachts and family properties along the Mediterranean coast.
Ms. Spong, residing in Paris in 2008, applied for a position as a personal assistant for the Al Fayed family in Monaco.
She was reportedly summoned to London on several occasions, subjected to an invasive gynecological examination, and subsequently, she alleges, sexually assaulted by Al Fayed in his Park Lane office.
“He told me the job entailed sleeping with him,” Ms. Spong stated, adding that she immediately declined the proposition.
“I didn’t realize I was a victim of sex trafficking until this past year when I… saw the scale and scope of the abuse and realized that it was a pattern and a system and a machine,” she conveyed to the BBC in an interview conducted in Paris.
Several months ago, Ms. Spong, currently residing in the USA, traveled to Paris to report her experiences to the French police, with the hope of encouraging other women to come forward with evidence of their own experiences of abuse.
“It’s a big step that the prosecutors decided to open an investigation. [Ms. Spong] has a really good case because she kept a lot of materials. It will be very strong,” her lawyer, Anne-Claire Le Jeune, told the BBC.
Ms. Spong asserted that it is “so much easier to dismiss the actions of an evil man that’s dead.”
“And you can’t learn anything from that as a society. So how do you prevent this happening again?”
“Well, first, you have to name what it… It’s critical to call it what it is, trafficking, so that we can prevent it,” she stated.
Al Fayed is also under investigation in the UK, where over 140 individuals have reported him to the Metropolitan Police.
The extent of Al Fayed’s alleged predatory behavior was initially brought to the public’s attention through a BBC documentary and podcast, aired in September 2024.
Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods featured testimonies from more than 20 former Harrods employees who alleged that Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. Since the broadcast, numerous additional women have come forward with similar accounts.
Following the broadcast, the Metropolitan Police disclosed that they had been approached by 21 women before Al Fayed’s death, accusing him of sexual offenses including rape, sexual assault, and trafficking. Despite these allegations, he was never formally charged with any offenses.
Ms. Spong herself claims to have spoken with British police about Al Fayed in 2017 but was informed that he was too ill to be questioned.
Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Police issued an apology to alleged victims, expressing “true sorrow” for the distress they have endured due to the fact that Al Fayed will never face justice.
The police force is currently investigating its handling of historical allegations against Al Fayed and examining whether others could face charges for enabling his behavior.
Harrods has allocated over £60 million in its plan to compensate alleged victims of Al Fayed’s abuse.
In a statement announcing the scheme, Harrods asserted: “While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organization, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.”
The Met Police has reported that 146 individuals have come forward to report a crime in their investigation into the late ex-owner of the luxury department store.
Police provided this number in an update communicated to victims of the late Harrods owner’s alleged predatory behavior.
Judges have unanimously rejected her legal challenge to the construction of a crematorium near her residence.
Eligibility for compensation has also been extended to employees of one of Fayed’s private airline companies.
An exclusive Park Lane address owned by the Fayed family is currently at the center of an eight-year dispute.