LONDON  –  The high-end London department store, Harrods, said Thursday that it is “utterly appalled” by allegations of abuse – including rape – perpetrated by its former owner, the late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed.

More than 20 female ex-Harrods employees have accused Al Fayed, who died last year at age 94, of sexually assaulting them, according to an in-depth BBC investigation. One said she was assaulted when she was 15 and Al Fayed was 79. Harrods acknowledged that Al Fayed was “intent on abusing his power wherever he operated.” The alleged assaults are said to have taken place at a wide range of locations, including Al Fayed’s luxury apartment in London, the Ritz hotel in Paris, which Al Fayed owned, and a Parisian villa that Al Fayed rented called Villa Windsor, known for being the main residence of the Duke of Windsor, a former British king, and his wife, for decades.

Al Fayed’s son, Dodi Fayed, died in 1997 along with Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash in Paris. Former Harrods employees told the BBC that Al Fayed’s treatment of women was known throughout the department store, with one former department manager saying that it “wasn’t even a secret.”

“I knew and I think, if I knew, everybody knew. Anyone who says they didn’t they’re lying,” the former department manager Tony Leeming said. In 2008, Al Fayed denied allegations of sexual assault on a girl under the age of 16. Police said the alleged assault took place at a business address in central London. Harrods apologized to victims in a statement, adding that “the Harrods of today is a very different organization to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010.”

“We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed,” the company said. “These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologize.”

Harrods said that last year “new information came to light” about historic allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by Al Fayed. Since then, it said, “it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees.” (CNN)

Photo: The late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed. (AFP)…[+]