London: Australian women are among the hundreds of alleged victims who have accused late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual abuse and rape. More than 400 alleged victims have contacted the legal team working on a case against Al-Fayed, lawyer Dean Armstrong said on Thursday.

Britain’s police watchdog is assessing complaints from two women over how the Metropolitan Police handled sex crime allegations they made against the late Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

Scotland Yard has referred itself to a police watchdog after two women complained about how their cases against Mohamed Al Fayed were handled. According to the Metropolitan Police, the two women raised concerns about the quality of police response and, in the case of the 2013 investigation, how details came to be disclosed publicly.