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The billionaire Hinduja family spent more on their pet dog than they paid one of their servants, according to a Swiss prosecutor who urged jail terms of as long as 5½ years at a trial over alleged trafficking and exploitation of staff at their Lake Geneva villa.
Prosecutor Yves Bertossa launched a blistering attack on the family at the Swiss city’s criminal court, citing testimony from the staff and Hindujas, as well as evidence submitted during his investigation.
Billionaire family members Namrata Hinduja (left) and Ajay Hinduja (second from right) arrive at the Geneva’s courthouse with their lawyers.Credit: AFP
“They spent more for one dog than one of their servants,” he said. The woman, he said, was paid at one point as little as 7 Swiss francs ($11.90) for a working day that lasted as long as 18 hours, seven days a week. He pointed to a budget document headlined “Pets”, which he said demonstrated that the family spent 8584 ($14,589) Swiss francs in a year on their family dog.
Staff contracts didn’t specify working hours or days off, but rather that they be available as needed by their employers, Bertossa continued. Given their passports had been confiscated, they had no Swiss francs to spend as their wages were paid in India and couldn’t leave the house without their employer’s permission, they had little to no freedom, he argued.
Even when they left the Hindujas’ home for the family’s residences in the Swiss Alps or Cote d’Azur, it wasn’t for fun, he said. When they accompanied family members to Cannes, he asked, “What were they doing there, jet-skiing?”
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But lawyers for the family immediately hit back at Bertossa’s claims, repeatedly citing the servants’ testimony that they were treated with respect and dignity. Bertossa, according to the defence, was being misleading in his characterisations of their remuneration.
“The salary can’t simply be reduced to what they were paid in cash,” given their board and lodgings were covered, said Yael Hayat, a lawyer for family scion Ajay Hinduja. Eighteen hour-working days is also an exaggeration, she said.
“When they sit down to watch a movie with the kids, can that be considered work? I think not,” she said.