Hindujas found guilty of exploiting servants at Geneva villa

Four members of the billionaire Hinduja family were found guilty of exploiting poorly paid servants at their Geneva villa, in a damning verdict for the Swiss branch of one of India’s wealthiest and most influential clans. Family scion Ajay Hinduja, his wife Namrata and his parents Prakash and Kamal illegally took advantage of staff hired in India, paying them wages a fraction of the going rate in Switzerland, Judge Sabina Mascotto said in a ruling Friday. The elder Hindujas – who failed to attend the trial, citing poor health – were both sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. Ajay and his wife, who were not present in the courtroom, were given four years. All were acquitted of human trafficking. Despite the judgment, it’s uncertain whether any of the family will serve jail time. + Read more: how some nannies go through hell in Switzerland The domestic staff “were exploited given the evident disproportion between what they were paid and should have been paid,” Mascotto said ...