Their staff cost far less than their dog’s food. Four members of the richest family in the United Kingdom, the Hindujas, risk ending up in prison. A Swiss court, where Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal live, together with their son Ajax and his wife Namrata, sentenced them to four years and four and a half years in prison for exploiting their employees even though it did not find them guilty of sex trafficking human beings, the worst of the accusations against them. The accused were not present in court, instead the Namibian family manager Ziazi was there and was sentenced to 18 months in suspended prison.
The Hinduja family has assets of more than 37 billion and yet they treated the Indian service staff of their mega villa in Switzerland like slaves. Last week the judges were able to learn through testimonies how there was a real climate of fear in the mansion. All employees were stripped of their passports as soon as they arrived at the villa, paid in rupees rather than Swiss francs, and were not allowed to leave the workplace without authorization. They were forced to work very long shifts for negligible pay. Some of them received less than 10% of the salary they were entitled to under Swiss law and did not have days off. Their accommodations were also disgraceful. The images of the Hinduja villa are of impressive luxury and yet their servants were forced to live under the stairs and sleep on mattresses thrown on the floor. One woman said she was paid just over six pounds an hour for working shifts of 18 hours a day, seven days a week. And while this was their treatment of humans, their dog’s annual food budget amounted to 8,584 Swiss francs. «Kamal Hinduja had created a climate of terror – declared judge Sabina Mascotto – The workers were exploited, given that their situation in India was precarious, they did not know the language, their passports had been confiscated and they were paid every three or six months. The Hindujas knew their vulnerability well and knew what the rules were in Switzerland as all are Swiss citizens and their son Ajax grew up here.” In addition to sentencing them to prison, the court ordered the family to pay damages of 850 thousand Swiss francs and 270 thousand Swiss francs for legal costs.
The Hinduja’s lawyer, Roman Jordan, called the accusations “excessive”, arguing that “no other family would have been treated in this way”. Jordan also explained the absence of his clients by saying that Kamal Hinduja is seriously ill and his family is at his bedside. “Here we are certainly not talking about two people who are trying to escape justice,” he added.
Maybe, but the Swiss authorities have already confiscated some jewels, including diamonds, rubies and platinum necklaces which could be used to pay legal costs and compensation for damages. The family will appeal.
