Mohamed Al Fayed was a rapist? 20 women come out against father of Lady Diana's boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed

Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods department stores and late father of Lady Diana's boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed, has been accused of rape and sexual assault by more than 20 women, according to an explosive new documentary. At least five of these were cases of rape, as claimed by the women.

Mohamed, an Egyptian-born billionaire, died at the age of 94 last September.

His son Dodi was with Diana when she died in a car crash in 1997 while trying to escape prying paparazzi in an underground tunnel in Paris.

Watch: Lesser-known facts about Princess Diana

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The new documentary and podcast by BBC, Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, claims that at least 20 of his former employees suffered rape or other forms of sexual assault. It also alleged cover-up by Harrods when it was owned by Al Fayed.

The assaults took place in properties at London, Paris, St Tropez and Abu Dhabi.

“The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark,” BBC quoted Bruce Drummond, a lawyer representing some of the women, as saying.

Harrods’ current owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed for which the store sincerely apologised, the BBC said in a report.

All the staff at Harrods were his “playthings,” it quoted one of the alleged survivors as saying. She described Al Fayed as "a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever.”

Fayed had faced sexual assault claims during his lifetime too, but the BBC said the new allegations "are of unprecedented scale and seriousness", adding it believes "many more women may have been assaulted."

In fact, several more women contacted BBC after it first published the story.

“He was vile,” said a woman who worked as Al Fayed's personal assistant from 1988 to 1991 and claimed he tried to rape her more than once.

She said that she is "angry" at the portrayal of Al Fayed in the hit Netflix series The Crown, which showed him as funny, generous and loyal to his employees.

"People shouldn't remember him like that. It's not how he was,” BBC quoted her as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)