The managing director of Harrods has broken his silence over the claims made against Mohamed Al Fayed , accusing him of presiding "over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct". Al-Fayed - the former owner luxury department store who died aged 94 - has been accused of rape and sexual assault by a string of numerous former employees. Last week, more than 20 women spoke to the BBC as part of a special investigation, coming forward with allegations of assault and physical violence at properties in London and Paris.
Now Michael Ward, the current managing director of Harrods, has issued a written statement. He said: "As managing director of Harrods, I wanted to convey my personal horror at the revelations that have emerged over the past week. We have all seen the survivors bravely speak about the terrible abuse they suffered at the hands of Harrods former owner Mohamed Fayed.
"As we have already stated, we failed our colleagues and for that we are deeply sorry. "As someone who has worked at Harrods since 2006, and therefore worked for Fayed until the change of ownership in 2010, I feel it is important to make it clear that I was not aware of his criminality and abuse. While it is true that rumours of his behaviour circulated in the public domain, no charges or allegations were ever put to me by the Police, the CPS, internal channels or others.
"Had they been, I would of course have acted immediately." Mr Ward added: "Fayed, who owned Ha.
