swiss-court-jails-hinduja-family-for-staff-abuse

Four members of the billionaire Hinduja family have been sentenced to between four and 4.5 years in prison by a Swiss court for exploiting their household staff at their villa on Lake Geneva. However, the court has rejected the charges of human trafficking, AP reported.

 

Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal were handed 4.5 year sentences each. Their son Ajay and his wife, Namrata, were sentenced each to four years. The four accused will appeal the order before a higher court.

 

In its order, the Swiss court said the Hinduja family members were guilty of exploiting the workers and providing them with meagre health benefits. The court also noted that the wages paid to the staffers were less than one-tenth the pay for such jobs in Switzerland.

 

Britain’s richest family, the Hindujas, expressed their shock at the Swiss court's decision to impose prison sentences on some family members in Geneva.

 

They have already filed an appeal in a higher court to challenge the verdict, which found them guilty of exploiting vulnerable domestic workers. According to a statement released on behalf of the family, their Swiss lawyers emphasised that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, both in their 70s, along with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, have been cleared of all human trafficking charges. 

 

The lawyers also rejected media reports suggesting that any family members are facing imprisonment, contrary to court reports from Geneva that indicated a four to four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the four individuals. “Our clients have been found not guilty of all human trafficking charges. 

 

We are dismayed and dissatisfied with the remainder of the decision made in this lower court, and we have lodged an appeal with the higher court to render this part of the ruling ineffective,” stated the release signed by lawyers Yael Hayat and Robert Assael and Roman Jordan.

 

The family members were reportedly accused of confiscating the passports of employees, preventing them from leaving the mansion and compelling them to work extensive hours for low pay in Switzerland, among other allegations. It was claimed that some workers only spoke Hindi and were paid in rupees by banks in their home country, which they couldn't access.

 

The family's legal representatives disputed the claims and informed the court that the employees were treated with respect and given housing.

 

According to the latest edition of ‘The Sunday Times Rich List’, published last month, the Hinduja family, based in the UK, once again topped the list as the wealthiest in the country, with an estimated wealth of approximately GBP 37.196 billion.