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Mohamed Al Fayed, late Harrods owner whose son died with Princess Diana, accused of dozens of sexual assaults
The late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, the longtime owner of London’s luxury department store Harrods whose son died in a car crash with Princess Diana, is being described by accusers as a “monster” and a “predator” following allegations that he raped several women who worked for him at the store in London.
“We have survivors from all over the world,” said lawyer Bruce Drummond at a news conference Friday in London, announcing that 37 women, including six Americans, had come forward to claim assaults including rape. Among the group are five women who allege they were raped by the Egyptian billionaire, who died in August 2023 at the age of 94.
The allegations involve “cover ups, threats and a quarter century of sexual abuse” that lawyers said were experienced by the women, “some as young as 15 and 16.”
“Many women dreamed of working there [Harrods] to be associated with this prestigious corporation,” said prominent American women’s rights advocate and attorney Gloria Allred, who is also representing the women behind the accusations. She said they instead discovered that beneath the “glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe, and abusive environment.”
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U.K. news outlets report police investigated allegations of harassment and assault from several women against Al Fayed during his lifetime, but he was never charged. Al Fayed denied those accusations.
“He knew where my family lived. I felt scared and sick.”
The lawyers said most of the victims were left feeling powerless, overwhelmed with fear of facing retaliation.
“Their terror was reinforced by threats, surveillance, and phone tapping,” claimed Allred at the news conference in London, adding that one of Al Fayed’s alleged victims, identified as Natacha, said he’d targeted the most vulnerable members of his staff — “those of us who needed to pay the rent and some of us who didn’t have parents to protect them.”
Natacha was at the news conference in person and, along with some of the other women, has at least partially waived her right to anonymity. Her full name was not given. She said she’d been accompanied on one occasion by one of Al Fayed’s security guards to his private sitting room, where the door was subsequently locked behind her.
“There was sex toys on view,” she said. “Mohammad Al Fayed, the person I worked for, pushed himself onto me.”
It was alleged that Al Fayed’s abusive behavior was not a secret and was widely known among employees at Harrods.
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The department store — which Al Fayed sold in 2010 — was accused on Friday of having enabled its former boss in a “vast web of abuse,” as there was a “procurement system in place to source the women and girls.”
That allegedly included “doctors administering invasive gynecological exams as a condition of employment for some of the employees who were targeted by Mohamed Al-Fayed for sexual abuse by him.”
Harrods’ current owners, the Qatari state-owned state of Qatar Investment Authority, told CBS News’ partner network BBC News that it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations against Al Fayed. The BBC said the company acknowledged that the women had been failed by the business, for which it sincerely apologized.
“This is and was a systematic failure of corporate responsibility,” said lawyer Dean Armstrong, who is also representing the women.
Armstrong said the “case combines some of the most horrific elements of the cases involving Jimmy Savile, , and Harvey Weinstein.” Al Fayed “was a monster enabled by the system,” he said.
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Holiday spending this year is expected to tick up from what it was in 2023. And it’s not like last year was exactly cheap, with consumers forecasted to spend 7% more than they did then, bringing the expected new average to around $2,100. But for those who are expected to cover these via a credit card, that could be problematic.
The average American has around $8,000 in credit card debt currently. With the average credit card interest rate recently surging to 23%, approximately – a record high – that means many Americans are already struggling with debt. And that’s before the bulk of their holiday shopping has even been completed.
Against this backdrop, many credit card users may be considering their debt relief options. One effective way to reduce what you owe is credit card debt forgiveness. But should you apply for this option before the holidays or are you better served by waiting until January? That’s what we’ll explore below.
See how much of your debt a forgiveness program could help with here now.
Should you apply for credit card debt forgiveness before the holidays?
The short answer is: It depends. If you’re in a position where you’ve exhausted all of your alternative debt relief options and can’t repay your credit card debt, then forgiveness could be worth exploring immediately, including before the holiday season kicks off. Waiting to ask for relief could be a costly mistake, particularly if you plan to increase your credit card spending during the season, as many Americans plan to do.
On the other hand, credit card debt forgiveness isn’t an overnight fix. It can take years to be effective and, even then, it will only likely erase somewhere between 30% to 50% of your outstanding balance. So it makes sense to pursue this option when you’re in a dire position – and when your spending can be legitimately curtailed. If you know that you need to increase your credit card debt, at least for November and December, it may be more beneficial to wait for a time when you can afford to stop swiping your card.
This all noted, every credit card user’s experience is different and there may be exceptions to this broad advice. If you’re unsure of which applies to you, it makes sense to first speak to a financial advisor for guidance. Consider speaking to a debt relief provider, too, although they will have a financial incentive to get you set up with a service. So keep that in mind when speaking to a representative.
Start exploring your credit card debt forgiveness options online today.
How to qualify for credit card debt forgiveness
Not everyone with a credit card balance can secure forgiveness. Users will need to qualify for help and, even then, it will take time to reduce what you owe (assuming you don’t add to it in the interim). Here are three important credit card debt forgiveness qualifications to know:
Minimum debt: Most credit card debt forgiveness servicers won’t work with you if your debt is under $7,500. In these cases, the debt is largely considered manageable and other alternative debt relief options may be more helpful. That said, if you’re burdened with a debt of $10,000 or more, credit card debt forgiveness could provide critical support.
Financial hardship: Is there a specific reason behind your inability to repay all that you’ve borrowed? If you’re able to demonstrate a financial hardship preventing you from paying anything – even minimum payments – you can boost your eligibility chances. Financial hardship examples include but are not limited to job losses and health issues.
Failure to pay: It may seem counterintuitive, but if you’ve already stopped making your credit card payments or are already in collections, this can help improve your qualification chances. This demonstrates a true inability to pay your bills, which many credit card debt forgiveness providers will want to see before agreeing to help.
The bottom line
Applying for credit card debt forgiveness is a personal decision, weighed heavily by your unique qualifications and financial situation. But if you need help and know that you can’t dig out of your financial hole, it doesn’t make sense to delay it, even with the pending holiday season. By taking action now you can start improving your credit and work toward regaining your financial freedom in the new year.
Learn more about credit card debt forgiveness here.
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With the holiday season just days away and, with it, the commencement of shopping, many Americans may be wondering about what to gift to family members and friends. This is a popular time for selling and buying gold, whether it be in the form of jewelry or just simple gold bars and coins. And even though the price has been elevated for much of 2024, it can still be affordable for many in the form of fractional gold.
That said, there are multiple benefits of gifting gold bars and coins, particularly during this upcoming holiday season. Below, we’ll break down three big benefits buyers should be aware of currently.
Start exploring your top gold options online now.
3 big benefits of gifting gold bars and coins this holiday season
Not sure if gold is worth giving now? Here are three reasons why it could be a smart gift:
Rising value
Despite a small drop in the price at the start of November, gold has been on a steady upward trend for much of 2024, breaking numerous price records throughout the year before surpassing the $2,700 mark at the end of October. Currently priced at $2,702.94 per ounce, according to American Hartford Gold, gold is positioned to break additional records, possibly before the holidays even begin.
Understanding the real potential of rising value, then, buyers would be well-served by gifting gold bars and coins today, even if they’re in a smaller, more affordable size. Waiting, however, could cause the price to become prohibitive. So start your holiday gold shopping sooner rather than later.
Get started with gold here today.
A tangible investment
You can invest in gold in multiple ways but gold bars and coins are one of the few tangible ways to do so. Gift receivers can hold them in their hands, inspect them and store them for safekeeping on their own. This feature is a major advantage compared to other, more opaque gold types like stocks, futures and ETFs. While you can, theoretically, gift those other gold investment types, too, only gold bars and coins can provide the same experience as other, more conventional gift types.
It’s easy to buy
Gold bars and coins aren’t like other hot holiday gift ideas. They’re ubiquitous and easy to purchase both online and in person. Big retailers like Costco and Walmart sell them in their stores and on their websites (and some even sell silver, too). So if you’re worried about your ability to be able to secure this sort of gift, don’t be. That said, as the holidays get closer, it’s possible retailers could sell out of these items (as Costco has in the past). So don’t wait until Christmas Eve to act, either.
The bottom line
There are scarce gift options this year that will come with a rising value, tangible and visible benefits and an easy ability to be purchased by shoppers. But gold bars and coins offer all of those benefits right now. So if you want to add a shiny precious metal to your shopping list this holiday season, gold may be the best one to consider.
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