A court in Switzerland has acquitted four people from the UK's richest family of human trafficking charges – but has sentenced them to at least four years in prison for lesser charges.
The court believes that members of the Hinduja family have made themselves guilty of exploiting employees – who were flown from their home country of India to work at the family's villa in Swiss Cologny – and employed them on unlawful grounds.
A financial settlement was reached earlier for three employees regarding allegations of exploitation. Despite this, the prosecutor decided to pursue the case due to the severity of the allegations.
However, the court believes that the family's treatment of the employees did not constitute human trafficking, as the employees understood what they were getting themselves into.
The family has, among other things, been accused of confiscating the employees' passports, having strict limitations on when they could leave the house, and paying the staff as little as the equivalent of approximately 80 kronor for 18-hour work shifts.
The family has denied the allegations. Defence lawyers have said that the wages need to be seen in context, as the staff also received food and accommodation.
