there's actually four branches of the family. It's a sprawling, uh, clan that got its roots early in the 20th century as a Commodities trading firm. And there's now the hindues who are among the richest families in England, as well as the Swiss hindues. And it was the four members of that family, uh, ranging in age from sort of 50 to about 80, uh, two parents and then their son and wife who were convicted on Friday evening. Can give us more details about what they were found guilty of. Sure, they faced, um, two quite, um, powerful charges. Human trafficking, obviously being the most serious of, of the two. They were acquitted on that charge, but they were found guilty of, uh, exploitation, simply by virtue of the fact that, as you just mentioned, they paid their staff an absolute pittance, as little as 200 twist Franks a month. And as the prosecutor thundered in his, uh, his argument that, that, um, was widely reported by ourselves and others, ended up paying more, spending more on their dog than on their servants. But it went

beyond that, it was the very fact that their passports were confiscated when they arrived. They were working between 15 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, with no statutory holidays. So what it amounted to, the judge ultimately decided, was a complete power imbalance where the Hindus had the power, uh, took advantage of their poverty, sorry, their weakness as it were, their willingness to work for pittance, uh, and that just did not fly with what the standards of Swiss Justice are. Well, the family were not in court to hear the verdict, as I understand it. Are they now in jail or will they be in jail as, um, they appeal this ruling? I understand it's a very good question. I mean, according to, like in any democracy, uh, in Switzerland included, they are, uh, have the right to appeal, and they have appealed this. Where they are and ultimately may not face any kind of a prison sentence if their appeal succeeds, but right now the two younger Hindus, uh, are in the south of France with their

mother who is taken ill. The La said essentially what happened is the two eldest huas refused to attend the trial, citing poor health. They just said their health would be in Jeopardy if they came to Geneva um, and the two youngest huas are at their mother's bedside, but that obviously was an absence that was noted by the prosecutor who demanded their immediate arrest. They remain unarrested, they are not in Switzerland, so it's really a very fluid situation um. The judge has said ultimately that they should not be arrested even if they did return to Switzerland, but it will be essentially what will play out in the coming months as they appeal, as they have the right to do so to hopefully stay this this conviction. Do you think their appeal will likely be successful? Impossible to say. There is the right to appeal first in the Geneva courts. If that fails, they can take that all the way up to the Supreme Court, and it's really impossible to say. All one can say with certainty is that it

will take time, probably months if not years, for them to see this legal process all the way through. And so for now, they remain free, and whether they will choose to return to Switzerland where they have the Villa on the edge of Lake Geneva, I guess is up to them. And there was also a fifth defendant, the family's business manager. What sentence did that person receive? What can you tell us about that case? Sure, he was essentially the advisor, accountant that was also on trial. He was given a suspended sentence, and I believe will also be appealing. We were primarily in touch with lawyers for the hindues, but I think he will also appeal the verdict as is his right. But what was key, I think, to the hinduja acquittal on the human trafficking charge, particularly the scorn of the family, edj andu, as he said, Listen, I'm a busy businessman. I was not responsible for the hiring. I did not sign the checks. I did not pay the bills.

all the hiring was done through the Hinduja Group in India. I just happened to live in the house, and ultimately, I guess the judge decided we do not, there is not the evidence to convict him of human trafficking because the recruitment of the staff was done remotely. So he was acquitted on that charge, as was his, the rest of his family. Meanwhile, the house, some of the household staff, filed civil suits against the Hinduja family and have settled with the family. What can you tell us about that? Yes, clearly, that was a, that that came as a sort of a mid-trial drama. It was something that had been flagged by both lawyers for the staff and then lawyers for the Hindus. They struck a civil deal, the terms of which will remain, have remained anonymous, but it was used as by the defense, essentially as a way of saying, listen, if they struck a civil deal, surely the plaintiffs have now withdrawn their complaint. This trial should end, but the prosecutor was very

keen that this continued. He had oppressed and indicted the four members of the Hinduja family and wanted very much to see this trial through to the end. So the only actual outcome that was different was that the $3.5 million in damages that the prosecutor sought were ultimately reduced because of the undisclosed aspects of the civil settlement that was reached. And Hugo just finally overall, how significant a blow is this to the Hindus and the family? They will stress, and they've stressed throughout, that regardless of what the outcome, they would appeal. And they have appealed this. They stress that their innocence is essentially intact until they are convicted at the highest level and all their appeals have failed. But it is a damning indictment, I think, from a judge that anyone, whether it's this family or another family, if you come to Switzerland and you expect that the laws of your own country are sufficient in the way in which you treat.

your staff that that is not going to fly. And Swiss justice, as is perhaps famous, that Switzerland is known for, the Swiss Justice, will insist on uh sticking to the laws, sticking to local laws, minimum wage, uh legally registering your staff. And it's a a warning of sorts, I think, to to anyone that might think twice of of Crossing this with authorities.

Swiss court convicts one of England’s richest families of worker exploitation charges | The World

Welcome to the official ABC News channel. As well as our 24-hour live stream, we also livestream breaking news events (make sure you subscribe and tap the bell so you don't miss any important notifications).

This channel also features regular news updates from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Our programs include 7.30, The Business, Insiders and The World.

If you're looking for our long-form programs Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners and Australian Story, head over to the ABC News In-depth channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ABCNewsIndepth


Swiss court convicts one of England’s richest families of worker exploitation charges | The World

Scripts