Image source, Shutterstock
- author, Imogen Foulkes
- role, Geneva correspondent
A Swiss court has sentenced four members of one of Britain’s richest families to between four and four-and-a-half years in prison.
Prakash Hinduja and Kamal Hinduja, along with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, were convicted of exploitation (usury under Swiss criminal law) and illegal employment.
But they were acquitted of the more serious charge of human trafficking.
The workers, brought from India, claim their families were paid just £7 ($8) for 18-hour days – less than a tenth of what Swiss law requires.
It also claimed the family, whose assets are estimated at around £37bn, were rarely allowed to leave their home in Colonie, a wealthy district of Geneva.
During the trial, the prosecution argued that the family spent more money on their dogs than on their servants.
The two elderly Hindus, both over 70, were not in court due to ill health. Ajay and Namrata were present but were not in the court to hear the verdict. Their lawyers have said they intend to appeal the sentence.
The Geneva prosecutor called for their immediate detention.
This is not the first time that Geneva, home to international organisations and the world’s wealthy, has been in the spotlight for allegations of servant abuse.
Last year, four domestic workers from the Philippines filed a lawsuit against the United Nations diplomatic mission in Geneva, claiming they had not been paid for years.
The Hinduja family owns the Hinduja Group, a multinational conglomerate involved in oil, gas and banking. The family also owns the Raffles Hotel in London.
