Billionaire family sentenced to prison for exploiting domestic workers

geneva — A billionaire of Indian origin and three members of his family were sentenced to prison on Friday for exploiting domestic workers at their lakeside villa in Switzerland by confiscating their passports and forbidding them to go out and making them work up to 18 hours a day.

A Swiss court has dismissed more serious human trafficking charges against tycoon Prakash Hinduja, 79; his wife, Kamal; their son Ajay and daughter-in-law Namrata on the grounds that the workers understood, at least in part, what they were getting into. The four were sentenced to between four and four and a half years in prison.

The workers were mostly illiterate Indians who were not paid in Swiss francs but in Indian rupees, deposited in banks in their country to which they had no access.

Lawyers representing the defendants said they would appeal.

Robert Assael, Kamal Hinduja's lawyer, said he was “relieved” that the court had dismissed the trafficking charges, but called the sentence excessive.

“The health of our clients is very poor, they are elderly people,” he said, explaining why the family was not present in court. He said Hinduja's 75-year-old wife was in intensive care and the family was with her.

A fifth defendant, Najib Ziazi, the family's business manager, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

Last week it emerged in court that the family had reached an undisclosed settlement with the complainants. Swiss authorities seized diamonds, rubies, a platinum necklace and other jewelry and assets in anticipation that they could be used to pay legal fees and possible sanctions.

Along with three brothers, Prakash Hinduja runs an industrial conglomerate in sectors including information technology, media, energy, real estate and healthcare. Forbes magazine estimates the Hinduja family's net worth at some $20 billion.

The family moved to Switzerland in the 1980s and Hinduja was convicted in 2007 on similar charges. Another tax case brought by Swiss authorities is ongoing against Hinduja, who obtained Swiss citizenship in 2000.

In that case, the court said the four men were guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorized employment, providing minimal or no health benefits, and paying wages less than one-tenth of the wage for such jobs in Switzerland.

Prosecutors said workers described a “climate of fear” created by Kamal Hinduja. They were forced to work with little or no vacation, and even worked later for functions. They slept in the basement, sometimes on a mattress placed on the floor.