A Swiss court has sentenced four members of the Hinduja family, one of Britain's richest families, to four years in prison, finding them guilty of exploiting domestic workers brought from India.
The Hinduja family is accused of bringing workers from India to work in their Geneva bungalow and exploiting them.
Prakash Hinduja, Kamal Hinduja and their son Ajay Hinduja and daughter-in-law Namrita Hinduja have been sentenced to four to four and a half years.
The elderly Hinduja brothers - Prakash Hinduja and Kamal Hinduja - did not appear in court citing their age and poor health, while the prosecutor has ordered the arrest of Ajay Hinduja and Namrita Hinduja.
According to Swiss media reports, the accused who have been found guilty may have absconded.
The Hinduja family is accused of confiscating the passports of workers and paying them less than the minimum wages.
Last week, the Hinduja family reached an out-of-court settlement with three aggrieved workers. It is not yet clear how much money was paid in this settlement, although it could be a large amount.
Hinduja family denies the allegations
The Hinduja family denied these allegations and said that they treat their staff with dignity and respect. According to the report, they said that the prosecution has exaggerated the allegations. Apart from salary, the staff also got food and house. The salary of our staff is better than their earnings in India. The staff is free to go anywhere. Ajay Hinduja told the court that all the employees were aware of the work rules. All of them were selected by a third party agency.
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