{"id":77929,"date":"2024-06-21T09:16:03","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T09:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/swiss-court-set-to-rule-in-trafficking-case-involving-u-k-s-richest-family\/"},"modified":"2024-06-21T09:16:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T09:16:03","slug":"swiss-court-set-to-rule-in-trafficking-case-involving-u-k-s-richest-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/swiss-court-set-to-rule-in-trafficking-case-involving-u-k-s-richest-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss Court Set to Rule in Trafficking Case Involving U.K.\u2019s Richest Family"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/21\/multimedia\/21xp-swisstrial\/21xp-swisstrial-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Swiss Court Set to Rule in Trafficking Case Involving U.K.\u2019s Richest Family\" title=\"Swiss Court Set to Rule in Trafficking Case Involving U.K.\u2019s Richest Family\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A Swiss court is expected to issue a ruling on Friday on whether members of Britain\u2019s wealthiest family are guilty of human trafficking over allegations they exploited domestic workers at a luxury villa in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prosecutors charged four members of the Hinduja family \u2014 Prakash Hinduja, Kamal Hinduja, Ajay Hinduja and Namrata Hinduja \u2014 and accused them of trafficking several workers from India, confiscating their passports and forcing them to work 16-hour days without overtime pay in the villa. Lawyers representing the Hindujas have denied the allegations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Hinduja family helms a multinational conglomerate with large holdings in automotive manufacturing, banking, oil and gas, real estate and health care. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/sunday-times-rich-list\/profile\/article\/gopi-hinduja-and-family-net-worth-sunday-times-rich-list-5m5r8xfgh\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Sunday Times<\/a> of London recently estimated the family\u2019s net worth to be 37 billion pounds, or $47 billion, and listed them as Britain\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/uk\/law\/article\/britains-richest-family-spent-more-on-pet-dog-than-on-servants-swiss-court-told-3222l7pxk\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">richest family<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Arguments in the closely watched trial began on June 10, with the lead prosecutor, Yves Bertossa, claiming that the family had budgeted more for a pet than they had for the salary of one domestic worker, according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.20min.ch\/fr\/story\/geneve-des-peines-de-prison-ferme-requises-contre-les-hinduja-103125117\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">reports in the Swiss media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some domestic workers were paid as little as 10,000 rupees a month (about $120 today), according to the original indictment. It said many of the workers were from poor backgrounds in India and had toiled from \u201cfrom dawn until late in the evening\u201d without overtime pay. Their salaries \u2014 well below Geneva\u2019s minimum wage for domestic workers \u2014 were paid into Indian bank accounts that they could not easily access, the indictment said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prosecutors alleged that the Hinduja family had confiscated the domestics workers\u2019 passports and told them not to leave the villa, where they slept in bunk beds in a windowless basement room. The workers were expected to be available at all times, the indictment said, including on trips to France and Monaco where they toiled under the same conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing the Hinduja family, rejected what he called the \u201cexaggerated and biased allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe members of the Hinduja family vigorously deny these allegations and remain determined to defend themselves,\u201d he said in a statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A civil case involving the key accusers, who worked for the family, was settled last week, according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letemps.ch\/suisse\/geneve\/a-geneve-l-affaire-hinduja-ses-univers-si-contrastes-et-son-accord-de-derniere-minute\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Swiss media reports<\/a>. Mr. Jordan declined to discuss the terms, but said that the agreement was \u201cconfidential,\u201d and that the plaintiffs had withdrawn their complaints.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the criminal case, where the judge is expected to rule on Friday, prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to five and a half years along with millions of francs in fines and compensation, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.20min.ch\/fr\/story\/geneve-des-peines-de-prison-ferme-requises-contre-les-hinduja-103125117\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to the Swiss media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Three Hinduja brothers head the family\u2019s conglomerate, with two of them based in Britain and around Europe. The family owns extensive real estate in London, including a 25-bedroom residence and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/27\/world\/europe\/old-war-office-hotel.html\" title=\"\">a five-star Raffles Hotel<\/a> in a historic former government building, the Old War Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The most senior of the brothers, Srichand P. Hinduja, who was also joint chairman of the Hinduja Group, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/india\/srichand-hinduja-billionaire-businessman-dies-aged-87-2023-05-17\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">died in May last year<\/a> at 87. Before his death, factions of the family had been involved in a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbesmiddleeast.com\/billionaires\/world-billionaires\/billionaires-hinduja-brothers-take-to-court-for-$112b-asset-split\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">protracted battle<\/a> over the control of family assets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/europe\/hinduja-family-human-trafficking-trial-pray-1.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Swiss court is expected to issue a ruling on Friday on whether members of Britain\u2019s wealthiest family are guilty of human trafficking over allegations they exploited domestic workers at a luxury villa in Geneva. Prosecutors charged four members of the Hinduja family \u2014 Prakash Hinduja, Kamal Hinduja, Ajay Hinduja and Namrata Hinduja \u2014 and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/21\/multimedia\/21xp-swisstrial\/21xp-swisstrial-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1287,1625,17,25911,10623,3980,320,4172,18708,37151],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77931,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77929\/revisions\/77931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}