Fayed quizzed over alleged 'sex assault'
Harrods boss Al Fayed has been questioned by the Scotland Yard after a teenager claimed he sexually assaulted her at the department store in London.
Harrods boss Al Fayed has been questioned by the Scotland Yard after a teenager claimed he sexually assaulted her at the department store in London.
The Daily Mail reported that the 15-year-old schoolgirl has made a formal complaint of indecent assault, alleging Fayed tried to kiss her during a visit to the store in May.
The teenager claimed she first met the 75-year-old Fayed while she was shopping with her mother in the department store in Knightsbridge, West London. According to the report in the British daily, the Egyptian-born multi-millionaire asked for her telephone number and then invited her back to Harrods where she claimed, he made advances towards her and forcibly tried to 'French kiss' her.
The girl is believed to have told her mother the assault began when he hugged her and fondled and grabbed her breasts, the report said.
Fayed was questioned by Scotland Yard's specialist unit which investigates alleged sex crimes.
"We can confirm that a man attended a police station by prior arrangement and was questioned under caution," a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said. "The man was questioned in relation to an allegation of sexual assault on a girl under 16 at a business premises in central London. The allegation was received in May 2008."
Fayed's spokesman, Katharine Witty, confirmed he had been questioned. However, Fayed "vehemently denies" the allegation and is completely confident his name will be cleared.
The allegations are the latest controversy to engulf Fayed, who was in the media glare over a court case in which he accused the British establishment of a conspiracy leading to the death of his son Dodi alongside Princess Diana in a Paris underpass in 1997.