Harrods boss manipulated and controlled managers to conceal his crimes, ex-director tells the BBC.
Mohamed Al Fayed manipulated Harrods managers to conceal his crimes, sacking those he could not control, an ex-director has told the BBC.
This made it harder for them to do their duty as directors to exercise independent judgement and check Al Fayed’s power - or ask questions which may have revealed more to them about how he was treating women. Mr Brilliant replied that he did not need it - he had been too busy to visit the cinema or theatre, and someone else had paid for dinner.Receiving cash ahead of business trips - large-value notes of pounds, francs or dollars depending on his destination - continued over the following six months.
Mr Brilliant believes he was not immune to Al Fayed’s extensive use of bugging and surveillance, carried out by the Harrods owner’s large team of security guards. The director says he and his wife would jokingly say “good morning” to the security guards who might be listening when they woke up. He worked in Al Fayed’s “ring of steel” office suite on the fifth floor of Harrods, protected by two sets of security doors. There was a group of administrative assistants who were all young, blonde and attractive - he says.
“I wasn't privy to that amount of information that would otherwise suggest that there was something deeper going on.”Mr Brilliant says Harrods’ managers were set in opposition to each other and then expected to keep a watchful eye on their rivals. This has been corroborated by an anonymous director. “There was no trust between directors,” he told us. “Everyone was on the defensive.”
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