Who are the Hindus? What were they sentenced to prison for? | Explained

Family scion Ajay Hinduja, his wife Namrata and his parents were found guilty of illegally exploiting workers employed in India and paying them wages that were only a fraction of the standard wage in Switzerland.

The fifth defendant, Najib Ziazi, business manager of the Hinduja family, received an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

On Friday, the Hindujas expressed dismay at a Swiss court’s decision to impose prison terms on some family members in Geneva. They announced that an appeal had been filed to a higher court to challenge the verdict that found them guilty of exploiting vulnerable domestic workers, news agency PTI reported.

Who are the Hindus?

– Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja founded a commodity trading company in 1914 in the Sindh region of British India, which his four sons quickly diversified. They initially found success distributing Bollywood films internationally. Srichand, the eldest son, died in 2023.

– After Srichand’s death, he was survived by his brothers Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok. The three younger brothers had earlier argued with Srichand and his daughter Vinoo over the family’s assets, but in 2022 they settled their differences.

– The Hinduja family has interests in the finance, media and energy sectors and holds shares in six listed Indian companies. Their combined fortune is at least $14 billion, making them among the 20 richest families in Asia.

– Prakash Hinduja and his brothers oversee an industrial conglomerate spanning the information technology, media, energy, real estate and healthcare sectors. Forbes estimates the Hinduja family’s fortune at around $20 billion.

What are the fees?

– Family members were accused of confiscating the workers’ passports, preventing them from leaving the villa and forcing them to work extremely long hours for minimum wage in Switzerland. Additionally, some workers who spoke only Hindi were paid in rupees to unavailable bank accounts in their home country.

– The family’s legal team denied the allegations, arguing in court that staff were treated with respect and provided with appropriate accommodation.

– A Swiss court has dismissed more severe human trafficking charges against 79-year-old tycoon Prakash Hinduja, his wife Kamal, son Ajay and daughter-in-law Namrata, finding that the workers had at least some understanding of their working conditions.

– It was revealed in court last week that the family had reached an undisclosed settlement with the plaintiffs. Swiss authorities confiscated diamonds, rubies, a platinum necklace and other jewelry and assets to cover potential legal fees and penalties.

More details of the current case

– According to a Bloomberg report, their conviction stems from a case that started in 2018. Swiss prosecutors, acting on a tip-off, raided the villa, offices of Hinduja Bank and other local companies belonging to the Hinduja Group, confiscating documents and hard drives.

– The court found all four guilty of exploiting workers, providing illegal employment, offering minimal health benefits and paying wages below one tenth of the standard wage in Switzerland.

– Prosecutors said employees described a “climate of fear” created by Kamal Hinduja. They were forced to work with little or no leave, extended office hours, and slept in the basement, sometimes on mattresses on the floor.

– A court in Geneva admitted that the four Indians took advantage of the staff’s lack of knowledge and understanding of the local language by forcing them to work up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, without statutory leave or benefits, for a fraction of normal Swiss wages.

– Hinduja employed workers without proper Swiss documents, relying on repeatedly renewed short-term EU Schengen visas, in a deliberate attempt to deceive the Swiss authorities.

(With contributions from Bloomberg and Associated Press)