Four Hinduja Family Members Found Guilty By A Swiss Judge Of Working Illegally

GG News Bureau

Geneva, 22 June Due to their exploitation of their Indian workers at their Geneva house, the richest family in the United Kingdom, the Hindujas, might spend up to four years in prison. Four family members were convicted guilty of illegal employment by a Swiss judge; they have since contested the verdict in a higher court.

Prosecutors said that the Hindujas treated their staff, who were brought from India to work as domestic assistance at their family house, inhumanely, and the court labeled them “selfish” on Friday.

It sentenced Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal Hinduja to four years and six months in prison, and it gave their son Ajay and his Namrata four years apiece. But they were cleared by the court of a more serious accusation of human trafficking.

With an estimated net worth of around $47 billion, the Hinduja family operates companies in up to 38 countries that cover a variety of industries, including banking, oil and gas, and healthcare.

The prosecution claimed in the trial that the Hindujas paid their employees only $8 (Rs 660) a day for working up to eighteen hours. This amounted to less than one-tenth of what Swiss law required as wages.

Prosecutors claimed that the family also seized the passports of their employees and hardly ever let them leave their affluent Cologny neighborhood estate.

Additionally, they disclosed to the court that the family’s dog was a bigger expense than their personnel. Swiss prosecutor Yves Bertossa had said that although some of their employees worked up to eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, for barely seven Swiss francs (Rs 660) a day, their annual expenses were almost 8,584 Swiss francs (Rs 8 lakh) on their dog.

The Hindujas refuted the accusations, claiming their staff members had enough of advantages and were free to leave the property. The defence claimed that because the Hindujas “offered them a better life,” the staff was “grateful” to them.

The family filed a challenge at a higher court, stating in a statement that they were “appalled” by the ruling.

A statement issued by the Hindujas’ attorneys read, “We are appalled and disappointed by the rest of the decision made in this court of first instance, and we have of course filed an appeal to the higher court thereby making this part of the judgment not effective.”

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The prosecution proceeded with the out-of-court settlement that the Hindujas had previously negotiated with the three employees who had brought the complaints against them because of the seriousness of the allegations.

Due to health issues, Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, who are both in their 70s, were unable to attend court. Although they had been at the trial, Ajay and Namrata were not there on Friday to hear the decision.