GENEVA – A Swiss court handed jail sentences to four members of Britain’s richest family on June 21 for exploiting the Indian staff at their Geneva mansion.
The Hindujas – who were not present in court – were acquitted of human trafficking, but convicted of other charges in a stunning verdict for the family, whose fortune is estimated at £37 billion (S$63.4 billion).
Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal each got four years and six months, while their son Ajay and his wife Namrata received four-year terms, the presiding judge in Geneva ruled.
The cases stem from the family’s practice of bringing servants from their native India and included accusations of confiscating their passports once they were flown to Switzerland.
Prosecutors argued the family paid their staff a pittance and gave them little freedom to leave the house.
The family denied the allegations, claiming the prosecutors wanted to “do in the Hindujas”.
The family reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with the three employees who made the accusations against them.
Despite this, the prosecution decided to pursue the case because of the gravity of the charges.
Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa had requested a custodial sentence of 5½ years against Prakash and Kamal Hinduja.
Aged 78 and 75, respectively, both had been absent since the start of the trial for health reasons.
In his closing address, the prosecutor accused the family of abusing the “asymmetrical situation” between powerful employer and vulnerable employee to save money.
Household staff were paid a salary of between 220 Swiss francs (S$330) and 400 Swiss francs a month, far below what they could expect to earn in Switzerland.
“They’re profiting from the misery of the world,” Mr Bertossa told the court.
‘Not mistreated slaves’
But the family’s defence lawyers argued that the three plaintiffs received ample benefits, were not kept in isolation and were free to leave the villa.
“We are not dealing with mistreated slaves,” Mr Nicolas Jeandin told the court.
Indeed, the employees “were grateful to the Hindujas for offering them a better life”, his fellow lawyer, Mr Robert Assael, argued.