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Namrata Hinduja (left) and Ajay Hinduja (second from right) arrived at the Geneva Court House with their lawyers on Monday (June 17).
Indian-origin billionaire and Britain’s richest Hinduja family has been found guilty in the case of exploitation of servants. Four members of the family were sentenced to jail by a Swiss court on Friday (June 21). Businessman Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal Hinduja have been sentenced to four and a half years. While his son Ajay and daughter-in-law Namrata have been sentenced to four years.
The Hinduja family was accused of exploiting the people working in their Switzerland villa. Most of them were illiterate people of India. However, the court dismissed the human trafficking charges saying that his staff had enough understanding of what they were doing. Hinduja’s lawyers said they have appealed the decision.
All four members of the Hinduja family were not in the court at the time of the verdict. However, his manager and 5th accused Najeeb Ziaji was present. He was also sentenced to 18 months.
Court did not close the case despite the agreement
According to BBC, the Hinduja family had reached a settlement with the complainants last week, but considering the seriousness of the matter, the court continued the case. Prakash Hinduja was found guilty on similar charges in 2007. Even after this he continued to recruit staff without proper documents.
Even before the sentencing, Swiss authorities had seized several properties of the Hinduja family, including diamond, ruby and platinum necklaces. These can be used to cover legal expenses and fines.
Made to work 18 hours a day without any leave
According to Bloomberg report, the trial in the human trafficking case against the Hinduja family was started in Switzerland from Monday (June 17). The lawyers appearing for the victims told the court that at times cooks or domestic helpers were forced to work for 15 to 18 hours with little or no leave.
As per the needs of the Hinduja family, it was necessary for him to be present all the time. The lawyer also mentioned the atmosphere of fear created by Kamal Hinduja.
Used to spend four times the money on dogs than on staff.
Government lawyer Yves Bertossa had told the court that the Hinduja family spent more on their dog than on a servant. The staff was paid Rs 654 per day i.e. around Rs 2.38 lakh annually, while documents show that around Rs 8 lakh was spent annually on the maintenance and feeding of the dog.
The lawyer had told that the passports of all these assistants had been confiscated. Many employees could only speak Hindi, so they could not go anywhere. They were paid in Indian Rupees instead of Swiss Francs, so that they could not go out and do any shopping. They are neither allowed to leave their jobs nor allowed to step out of the house.
Hinduja family denied the allegations
The Hinduja family had denied the allegations against them. He said that he did not hire the staff himself. An Indian company hires him. Therefore, the allegations of human trafficking and exploitation against them are wrong.
Along with this, Hinduja family had claimed that the government lawyers have not told the entire truth of the case. Adequate food arrangements were made for the staff in his villa. He was also given a house to live in.
The lawyer of Hinduja family claimed in the court that many of their staff have returned to work in Switzerland after going to India. If he had faced problems here, he would not have returned to work here again.
Hinduja is the richest in Britain
Hinduja family runs its business from Britain. This family is included in the list of the richest people in the world. According to Forbes, the total wealth of the Hinduja family in 2023 was $ 20 billion (Rs 1.67 lakh crore). Hinduja is the richest family in Britain.
Gopi Hinduja of the Hinduja family is the richest person in Britain. He is included in the list of top 200 richest people in the world. Hinduja Group’s business is in sectors like Telecom, Oil & Gas, Power & Infrastructure, Reality, Auto, Healthcare etc.
The foundation of Hinduja Group was laid 110 years ago
The foundation of Hinduja Group was laid by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja in 1914 in Mumbai. He had four sons. The family of these four sons manages the Hinduja Group. The family business is currently managed by four Hinduja brothers – Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok. Srichand Hinduja died on May 17 last year.
The office of Hinduja Group was shifted to Iran in 1919. After this, the business of Hinduja Group continued from there till 1979. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the situation changed there, after which the Hinduja Group had to shift to London. Hinduja Group’s business is spread in about 50 countries and more than 1.5 lakh employees work in it. This group has six listed companies in India.
Prakash Hinduja has been living in Monaco since 2008.
Prakash Hinduja is the chairman of Hinduja Group in Europe. According to the company’s official website, he has been living in Monaco since 2008. After completing his university studies, Prakash Hinduja joined the family business in Tehran, Iran. He later moved to Geneva, Switzerland and took charge of the group’s European operations.
Prakash Hinduja is married to Kamal and has two sons Ajay, Ramakrishna and a daughter Renuka. According to Forbes, as of October, the total wealth of the Hinduja family was $ 20 billion (now about Rs 1.6 lakh crore). Last year, the Hinduja family was at number 7 in the Forbes list of India’s richest people.
bofors scams From Too connected Was Name
The names of Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja also came up in the Bofors scam. In this scam, Swedish company Bofors was accused of giving a bribe of 1.3 billion dollars to the Indian government in 1986. All three brothers helped in this. CBI had leveled these charges against the three brothers in October 2000, but in 2005, the Delhi Court dismissed all the charges against them due to lack of evidence.
Unique rule of Hinduja family
Four years ago, news of rift in the Hinduja family also came to light. Actually, the reason for this was an agreement reached in this family in 2014. According to the agreement, ‘Everyone has the right on the property of Hinduja Group and nothing belongs to anyone.’
Meaning, the wealth owned by one brother of the Hinduja family will be owned by the other brothers also. Each person will appoint the others as his executors. This agreement was signed by all four brothers. Later, the daughters of Srichand Hinduja, the eldest member of the Hinduja family, wanted to get out of this agreement. For this he had also filed an application in the court.
Srichand Hinduja’s daughters had alleged that their uncles had isolated them from the family. They have been made very weak financially. At the same time, other brothers of Srichand Hinduja had accused these two sisters of grabbing all the property.
