Billionaire Hinduja family 'spent more on pet dog than on servant’s salary', allege reports

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, June 19

The billionaire Hinduja family has been accused of exploiting the household staff at their Swiss villa, according to multiple media reports.

A Bloomberg report alleged that the family ‘confiscated passports of the household staff’ at their villa on Lake Geneva and ‘paid $8 for 15-18 hours of work.’

The Hinduja family, ranked among India's richest with an estimated net worth of $20 billion, controls the multinational conglomerate the Hinduja group.

The report also stated that a human trafficking trial began in Switzerland against four members of the Hinduja family on Monday.

According to the report, the prosecutor has also accused the Hindujas of ‘spending more on their pet dog than they paid one member of their staff’.

Besides confiscation of passports, the trial also involves allegations that the family did not allow any staff member to leave the villa without permission, Bloomberg reported.

As per the report, the prosecutor told the court that a female staff was paid as little as 7 Swiss francs ($7.84) for a working day that stretched from 15 to18 hours, seven days a week.

It was less than what they spent on their pet dog in a year, which amounted to 8,584 Swiss francs, the prosecutor said, as quoted by media reports.

The reports stated that the prosecutors were pushing for years-long sentences for family members — Prakash Hinduja, wife Kamal, their son Ajay and his wife Namrata.

Meanwhile, the Hindujas' lawyer dismissed the allegations and accused the prosecutors of “bias” against the billionaire family, as per a statement to Forbes.

“The salary can't simply be reduced to what they were paid in cash, given their board and lodgings were covered,” Bloomberg quoted another family lawyer as saying.

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