New Claim Against Al-Fayed Makes Case His Brother Knew

Scores of women have now accused the late Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed of sexually abusing them. A new claim made via a Connecticut court filing on Tuesday has an added dimension. A woman identified as Jane Doe alleges she was "raped and brutally abused" and trafficked by al-Fayed after being hired at age 19 to work at the luxe British department store in the mid-1990s—and that al-Fayed's younger brother knew about it. The New York Times reports Ali Fayed, 80, has a home in Greenwich, Conn., and is a former Harrods director.

The paper notes the woman makes no direct legal claims against Ali Fayed but rather "lays the groundwork for evidence to be collected" in support of the civil claim she is pursuing in the UK against Harrods. Should her petition be granted, Ali Fayed could be ordered to sit for a deposition or supply certain documents. In her filing, the woman claims Ali Fayed was a witness to her trafficking, which occurred over a "substantial period of time," and has "unique and critical evidence regarding the direction, operation, and knowledge of a more than two-decade long trafficking scheme that ensnared and irrevocably injured what is reported to be more than 100 women." (More Harrods stories.)