UK’s Richest Family On Trial For Human Trafficking

Four members of the UK’s richest family are on trial in Switzerland amid allegations they spent more money caring for their dog than their servants.

It’s alleged that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, together with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, confiscated staff passports, paid them as little as $8 (£7) for 18-hour days, and allowed them little freedom to leave the house. I Photo: Richter Frank-Jurgen Flickr

The Hinduja family, worth an estimated £37 billion ($47 billion), is accused of exploitation and human trafficking, Imogen Foulkes reported for BBC News in Geneva.

The family owns a villa in Geneva’s wealthy neighborhood of Cologny, and the charges against them all relate to their practice of importing servants from India to look after their children and household.

It’s alleged that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, together with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, confiscated staff passports, paid them as little as $8 (£7) for 18-hour days, and allowed them little freedom to leave the house.

Just last year, four domestic workers from the Philippines launched a case against one of Geneva’s diplomatic missions to the United Nations, claiming they had not been paid for years.

Although a financial settlement over exploitation was reached last week, the Hindujas remain on trial for trafficking, which is a serious criminal offense in Switzerland. They deny the charges.

This week in court, one of Geneva’s most famous prosecutors, Yves Bertossa, compared the almost $10,000 a year he claimed the family had spent on their dog to the daily amount they were allegedly paying their servants.

The Hinduja family's lawyers did not specifically deny the allegations of low wages but said they must be viewed in context, noting that the staff were also receiving accommodation and food.