Harrods plots legal action against estate of former owner al-Fayed

Harrods is preparing to instrumentality ineligible enactment against the property of its erstwhile owner, Mohamed al-Fayed, arsenic the multimillion-pound ineligible measure for compensating his intersexual maltreatment victims continues to escalate.

Sky News has learnt that the Knightsbridge section store, which has been owned by a Qatari sovereign wealthiness money since 2010, plans to record a alleged passing-over exertion successful the High Court arsenic aboriginal arsenic adjacent week.

The volition of the exertion is to unafraid the removal of Mr al-Fayed's estate's existent executors, and regenerate them with nonrecreational executors to administer it instead.

Professional executors would beryllium expected to analyse the assets and liabilities of the estate, portion Harrods insiders claimed that the existent executors - thought to beryllium adjacent household members of the deceased billionaire - had "ignored" correspondence from its lawyers.

Sources adjacent to Harrods said the passing-over exertion paved the mode for it to perchance question to retrieve important sums from the property of the Egyptian tycoon arsenic it contends with a compensation measure apt to tally to tens of millions of pounds.

In a connection issued to Sky News connected Saturday, a Harrods spokesperson said: "We are considering ineligible options that would guarantee that nary doors are closed connected immoderate aboriginal enactment and that a way to compensation and accountability from the Fayed property remains unfastened to all."

Mr al-Fayed is believed to person raped oregon sexually abused hundreds of women during his 25-year tenure arsenic the proprietor of Harrods.

He died successful 2023, since erstwhile a torrent of details of his maltreatment person been made nationalist by galore of his victims.

Earlier this year, Sky News revealed details of the compensation strategy designed by Harrods to grant six-figure sums to women helium abused.

In a signifier outlining the details of the Harrods redress strategy overseen by MPL Legal, which is advising the section store, it referred to the imaginable "for Harrods to retrieve compensation paid retired nether this Scheme from Mohamed Fayed's estate".

"You are not obliged to assistance with immoderate specified assertion for recovery," the signifier told imaginable claimants.

"However, if you would beryllium consenting to assistance Harrods including perchance by giving grounds against Fayed's estate, delight bespeak below."

This weekend, determination appeared to beryllium disorder astir the ineligible practice of Mr al-Fayed's estate.

In March, the BBC reported that Fladgate, a UK-based instrumentality firm, was representing it successful an nonfiction which said that women who worked for him arsenic nannies and backstage aerial stewards were preparing to record ineligible claims against the estate.

This weekend, however, a spokesperson for Fladgate declined to remark connected whether it was acting for Mr al-Fayed's estate, citing confidentiality restrictions.

A root adjacent to the instrumentality firm, meanwhile, insisted that it was not acting for the estate.

KP Law, different instrumentality steadfast acting for immoderate al-Fayed maltreatment survivors, has criticised the Harrods-orchestrated process, but has itself faced questions implicit proposals to instrumentality up to 25% of compensation awards successful speech for handling their cases.

Harrods insiders said determination was a increasing hazard that Mr al-Fayed's property would not beryllium responsibly administered fixed that the 2nd day of his decease was present approaching.

They added that arsenic good arsenic Harrods itself seeking publication for compensation paid retired for Mr al-Fayed's abuse, its ineligible enactment would besides perchance unfastened mode for survivors to assertion straight against the estate.

Victims with nary nonstop transportation to Harrods are not eligible for immoderate compensation done the store's ain redress scheme.

Even if Harrods' passing-over exertion was approved by the High Court, immoderate fiscal betterment for the section store would beryllium taxable to a fig of further ineligible steps, sources said.

"The passing-over enactment would execute the goals of acknowledgement and accountability from the property for survivors who don't person the assets to undertake a passing-over exertion themselves," an insider said this weekend.