A Swiss court has sentenced four members of the wealthy Hinduja family to up to four years and six months in jail on Friday for exploiting their domestic workers.
The Hinduja family, known for their vast business empire spanning various sectors, tops the Sunday Times list of the UK’s 350 richest people with an estimated fortune of £37 billion. However, Gopi Hinduja himself was not named in the case.
The Hinduja Group, controlled by the family, has diverse business interests ranging from trucks and lubricants to banking and cable television.
The group was founded by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja, who started his merchant banking and trade businesses in British India before moving to Bombay in 1914 and expanding internationally to Iran in 1919.
The brothers later shifted their base to London in 1979, where it remains today, with the group claiming to employ 200,000 people worldwide.
Srichand P Hinduja, the eldest son, took over the reins in 1935 and is credited with founding IndusInd Bank. Following his death in May 2023, Gopichand Hinduja assumed the role of Chairman and is recognized for the Group’s ventures into the power and infrastructure sectors.
The family’s wealth and influence have been significant, with Forbes ranking them as the seventh richest in India and the 146th richest globally in recent years.
What are the Hindujas accused of
In a recent court case in Switzerland, Indian-born businessman Prakash Hinduja and his family members were found guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorized employment. The court dismissed the human trafficking charges, saying that the staff understood the conditions they were agreeing to.
The Hinduja family, long-time residents of Switzerland, faced accusations of confiscating workers’ passports, paying them in rupees instead of Swiss francs, restricting their movement, and forcing them to work excessively long hours for low wages. This was not Prakash Hinduja’s first offense, as he had been convicted on similar, though less severe, charges in 2007. Prosecutors alleged that he continued to employ people without proper documentation despite the previous conviction.
It was disclosed last week that the family had reached an undisclosed settlement with the plaintiffs. Swiss authorities have already seized various assets, including precious stones and jewelry, which could be used to cover legal fees and potential penalties resulting from the case.
‘Spent more on pet dog than servant’
According to Swiss prosecutor Yves Bertossa, the family spent more money on their pet dog than they paid one of their servants.
The prosecutor delivered a scathing critique of the Hinduja family’s actions, recommending jail sentences of up to five and a half years for those involved. Bertossa’s arguments were based on testimonies provided by the staff and the Hindujas themselves, as well as evidence gathered during his investigation into the matter.
“They spent more for one dog than one of their servants,” he said. The prosecutor revealed that the woman was paid as little as 7 Swiss francs ($7.84) for a working day that lasted up to 18 hours, seven days a week. He also pointed to a budget document titled “Pets”, which demonstrated that the family spent 8,584 Swiss francs in a year on their family dog.