A court in Geneva, Switzerland has begun the trial on criminal charges linked to human trafficking against billionaire Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, their son Ajay and his wife Namrata. If convicted, since the hearing may conclude this week, the Hinduja family members face up to five years in prison. Bloomberg reported that the billionaires are accused of exploiting household staff at their villa on Lake Geneva, paying as little as $8 for work days that stretched from 15 to 18 hours and confiscating the passports of those who worked for them.
In addition, Ajay Hinduja is also facing criminal proceedings in relation to Hinduja Bank, which via cross holdings has a stake in India's Indusind Bank. Indusind Bank is promoted by Indusind International Holdings Ltd (IIHL), which is based out of Mauritius and has 600 hidden shareholders unknown to the public and authorities in India. It is likely that Switzerland based Hinduja Bank is one of the shareholders in the Mauritius holding company.
With regard to the human trafficking charges, the reports suggested that the trial began even after they had settled the matter with the house staff. Bloomberg said that the details of the settlement were not disclosed but the parties reached an agreement Friday, six years after the civil suit was filed, over allegations they paid their staff, including childcare workers, a fraction of local wages and forced them to work illegally long hours.
Reportedly, the criminal charges center around claims that the Hinduja family illegally brought the staff in and out of Switzerland after having confiscated their passports. It was argued in the court proceedings that the servants of Hinduja's weren't allowed to leave the employer's house without permission and that they were paid for their work in India, meaning they had no Swiss money and therefore little freedom when visiting the country, according to Bloomberg. Hinduja's lawyers have said that the claims of 18-hour work a day were an exaggeration and that the salaries, said to be below $8 per day, "can’t simply be reduced to what they were paid in cash" because staff food and lodging were paid for by the family.
Hinduja Bank Fraud Case
Geneva based prosecutors had obtained a criminal order against Ajay Hinduja in December 2019 in relation to an account at Hinduja Bank. Ajay Hinduja allegedly falsely declared himself the beneficial owner of the account, which was opened in 2008 and was said to be controlled by a woman known to the family.
There has been a major family dispute over the ownership of family assets leading to fights in the Hinduja family, which is known as one of Europe's wealthiest families with a worldwide empire encompassing banking, car making, real estate, energy, outsourcing and philanthropy. The four Hinduja brothers had disputes over assets following an alleged declaration made in 2014. They made their case in the UK and Swiss courts, as well as in private hearings in Jersey. After SP Hinduja passed away last year, his brother Gopi has taken charge of some of the family's businesses. The Swiss bank founded in 1994 by SP Hinduja remains firmly in the hands of the SP Hinduja family branch, not involved in the Geneva proceedings.
Amidst the raging family feud, one of the Hinduja brothers' Ashok Hinduja has made a bid to buy Reliance Capital but has missed three deadlines to arrange Rs 9850 crores for the acquisition. The bid was made by IIHL, which has been unable to arrange the cash and changed its deal structure at the last hour. IIHL has now sought an extension for the deal deadline, which the authorities in India are reluctant to give without changing them to an interest penalty.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated on June 27 to reflect that the SP Hinduja family branch is not involved in the Geneva proceedings.
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