Businessmen at the now-notorious Presidents Club gala may have committed criminal offences, the government’s top lawyer has said.
A tidal-wave of claims of sexual impropriety at the secretive club’s all-male annual dinner have followed an undercover sting last week.
Hostesses handpicked for their good looks have said they were groped, harassed and treated like prostitutes while serving drinks at London’s Dorchester hotel.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright has now waded into the row which has followed the scandal, saying some of the men’s actions may have been criminal.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright has said behaviour by businessmen at the Presidents Club ball last week may have been criminal
Three of the 130 hostesses chat to a businessmen outside the event last Thursday night
Mr Wright told The Financial Times: ‘What happened on that particular evening was unacceptable. From what I’ve heard described it’s quite possible that criminal offences were committed.’
His comments came as it emerged that police investigated an alleged sexual assault at the event last January – but the complainant did not wish to continue with the case.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘We can confirm that on 22 January 2017 police received a third-party allegation of sexual assault of a female at a hotel on Park Lane on 21 January 2017.
‘Police contacted the alleged victim who advised that she did not wish to proceed with the allegation. The investigation was discontinued.’
The force confirmed no complaints have been received about this year’s event.
A number of politicians have called on police to investigate what happened.
MPs have urged police to investigate ‘potentially criminal’ behaviour at last Thursday’s event
Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, and the party’s deputy leader, Jo Swinson, said in a joint statement: ‘Offences of harassment and pimping appear to have taken place.
‘Women must be able to have confidence that perpetrators of sexual harassment, abuse and assault will be brought to book.
‘It is fundamental to that confidence that all such allegations are taken seriously and investigated immediately. There can be no place in today’s Britain for the behaviour reported, nor for ‘secret societies’ behind which individual perpetrators can hide.’
And Labour’s Jess Phillips tweeted: ‘To the men who were at the Presidents Club, if you saw groping and were appalled I give you a nudge to contact the police and give the names and details to the police.’
Reporter Madison Marriage, who went undercover as part of the FT’s investigation, said she was groped several times and other hostesses had suffered similar treatment.
Madison Marriage, the reporter who went undercover, said she was groped ‘several times’
Bad Girls actress Nicole Faraday today said the businessmen have been getting away with ‘lewd and disgusting’ behaviour at the Presidents Club fundraiser for decades.
She told the MailOnline was told to wear a sexy black dress before she was pawed and slapped on the bum while she was a hostess at the same event in the 1990s.
Speaking of her experience, she said: ‘We were also told that it would be worth our while financially if we stuck around for the after-party and that what we did with them was our business.
‘I feel sorry for the other girls who felt that they had to put up with that behaviour.’