The Hinduja billionaire family faces allegations of mistreating household staff at their Lake Geneva villa. The super-rich family has been accused of passport confiscation of the staff and paying a mere $8 for 15-18 hours of work.
Four members of the family are now facing a human trafficking trial, which began on Monday. According to Bloomberg, which first reported the development, three plaintiffs dropped the civil suit against the family days after they reached the deal.
The trial centres on accusations that the billionaire family seized their staff’s passports and restricted them from leaving the residence without permission. According to Bloomberg, the staff were paid in India, leaving them without Swiss currency during their time in the country.
A prosecutor accused the Hindujas of spending more on their pet dog than they paid one member of the staff, the report said.
Prosecutor Yves Bertossa informed the court that according to a budget document named “Pets,” a female staff member was compensated as little as 7 Swiss francs ($7.84) for a workday that extended from 15 to 18 hours, seven days a week. He highlighted that this amount was less than what the family spent on their pet dog in a year, which totaled 8,584 Swiss francs.
Prosecutors are seeking lengthy sentences for four family members—Prakash Hinduja, his wife Kamal, their son Ajay and his wife Namrata.
Yves Bertossa also demanded that the family pay 1 million Swiss francs in court costs and contribute 3.5 million francs to a compensation fund for the staff.
The Hindujas’ lawyer has denied the allegations, stating that the family was not responsible for hiring or overseeing the daily management of the staff.
In a statement to Forbes, Romain Jordan, the attorney representing the Hindujas, criticised the prosecutors and alleged that there was bias against the billionaire family.
“No other family would have been treated in this way. Our clients remain determined to defend themselves and have confidence in the judicial system,” Jordan was quoted as saying by news outlet Forbes.
“The salary can’t simply be reduced to what they were paid in cash given their board and lodgings were covered,” another family lawyer, Yael Hayat, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg while dismissing claims of an 18-hour work-day, calling them ‘an exaggeration’.
The Hinduja family, based in London, is among the world’s wealthiest and are also ranked among India’s richest. They control the multinational conglomerate the Hinduja group.
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