Swiss Court Set to Rule in Trafficking Case Involving U.K.’s Richest Family

A Swiss court is expected to issue a ruling on Friday on whether members of Britain’s 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 — Prakash Hinduja, Kamal Hinduja, Ajay Hinduja and Namrata Hinduja — 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.

The Hinduja family helms a multinational conglomerate with large holdings in automotive manufacturing, banking, oil and gas, real estate and health care. The Sunday Times of London recently estimated the family’s net worth to be 37 billion pounds, or $47 billion, and listed them as Britain’s richest family.

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 reports in the Swiss media.

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 “from dawn until late in the evening” without overtime pay. Their salaries — well below Geneva’s minimum wage for domestic workers — were paid into Indian bank accounts that they could not easily access, the indictment said.