Four members of the most powerful Hinduja family in India and Britain were acquitted by a Swiss court on Friday of human trafficking charges. But they were condemned Exploiting Indian domestic workers at their mansion on the outskirts of Geneva will carry stiff prison terms (Image: Rex/Salvador de Nolfi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock, above, Ajay and Namrata Hinduja appear in court).
Defense attorneys announced in a press release that they would appeal: “That family We have full faith in the legal process and are confident that truth will prevail.”
“The defendants’ motives are motivated by self-interest” and “lust for profit.”
“I’m shocked … I feel like the behavior was judged on a moral level, not a legal one,” said one of the attorneys, Robert Askale.
Although a compromise agreement was reached during the trial with the three employees who sued the Hindujas, a Geneva judge decided to prosecute four members of the family, who hold Swiss citizenship.
Father Prakash Hinduja (78) and his wife Kamal (75) were sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison, while their son Ajay (56) and daughter-in-law Namrata (50) were sentenced to 4 years in prison. Old.
As part of the sentence, the Hindujas were also ordered to pay 850,000 Swiss francs (889,000 euros) to the canton of Geneva.
The president of the court did not mince his words about them: “The motives of the accused were selfish” and they were motivated by the “lust of profit”. He added that their cooperation during the investigation was “poor”.
Since the trial began, the father and mother have been absent due to health reasons.
The sentences are similar to those sought by the first prosecutor, Yves Perdoza, for pre-trial detention, citing the flight risk of the son and daughter-in-law.
The president of the court raised objections by emphasizing their ties to Switzerland. He also said the defense explained how Kamal Hinduja was taken to an “intensive care” unit at a hospital in Monaco.
During the inquest, two conflicting views emerged about the activities of the family, which this year was ranked Britain’s richest by The Sunday Times at £37bn (€48bn).
Forbes estimates their net worth at $20 billion. The Hinduja Group operates in 38 countries and employs around 200,000 people.
340 euro salary
In his indictment, Yves Bertosa accused the family of “spending more on the dog than the housekeepers.”
They slept in a room in the basement of a Hindu mansion, their passports were confiscated, and their wages, an average of 325 Swiss francs (340 euros) a month, was far less than that of a domestic worker, the head of the court said.
According to the court, their salaries were 80 to 90% less than what they were entitled to.
The court, however, ruled out human trafficking, arguing that some of the workers went to work in Geneva after returning to India.
However, the president of the court insisted that “the inexperience of the workers was exploited, they had little education, perhaps none, and they did not know their rights.”
Source: RES