The Metropolitan police told MPs in July that 70 women who reported sexual abuse allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed show hallmarks of human trafficking, according to a briefing to the all-party parliamentary group for survivors of Fayed and Harrods.
The figure represents nearly half of all women who have made allegations to the force. Senior Met officers conducted a review earlier this year that identified these 70 accounts as bearing trafficking characteristics.
The finding suggests the scale of potential offences could expand beyond the sexual abuse allegations already documented. Human trafficking involves the exploitation of people through force, fraud or coercion, typically for labour or sexual purposes.
Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods department store, died in 2023. Allegations against him have emerged publicly in recent years, with women reporting abuse spanning decades while employed at the store or in roles connected to him.
The identification of trafficking hallmarks adds a new dimension to the ongoing police investigation and suggests victims may have been subjected to multiple forms of exploitation, not solely sexual abuse.