Domestic staff exploited Multi-year prison sentences for rich Indian family in Geneva
Four members of a wealthy Indian family have been found guilty of usury by the Geneva Criminal Court. They are alleged to have exploited domestic staff in their villa in Cologny GE.
21.06.2024, 20:49
SDA
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- Four members of a wealthy Indian family have been sentenced to several years in prison in Geneva for exploiting domestic staff.
- The guilty verdict was for commercial usury.
- The four defendants were acquitted of the charge of human trafficking by the criminal court.
Four members of a wealthy Indian family were convicted of commercial usury. The defendants were accused of exploiting domestic staff in their villa in Cologny GE. However, the Geneva Criminal Court acquitted them of the charge of human trafficking on Friday.
The court found that the Indian domestic workers were not forced to come to Switzerland to work here. They knew what awaited them on Lake Geneva.
The employees' passports were confiscated
However, even taking into account the fact that they received board and lodging, they received wages averaging 325 francs per Monday. Including board and lodging, this corresponds to a salary of between 1,000 and 1,400 francs.
In addition, the domestic workers could only move around to a limited extent. Their passports were confiscated by the Indian family. The employees slept in a room in the basement of the house; a room with no daylight and no fresh air supply.
According to the judges, the Hinduja family characteristically exploited the weak position of these Indian employees, some of whom were illiterate.
Four to four and a half years
The parents, aged 75 and 79, were sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment. Their daughter-in-law and son, aged 50 and 56, received four years in prison. The defendants were not present at the sentencing.
The court found that such a salary was "extreme" from a Swiss perspective. The Indian family had saved CHF 2.5 million between June 2009 and April 2018 by deciding not to pay Swiss salaries.
850,000 francs compensation claim
The court also pointed out that the Indian family now has Swiss citizenship. In this respect, they had acted in full knowledge of the local circumstances. They could not refer to the situation in India. "Their culpability is very serious," said the court.
The Hinduja family was also ordered to pay a compensation claim of 850,000 Swiss francs. This sum is intended to compensate the domestic workers and is in addition to the agreement that the defendants reached with the plaintiffs as compensation during the trial.
Request for arrest rejected
The parents of the Hinduja family cited health reasons for their absence from the trial. Their son and daughter-in-law, however, were only absent on Friday - due to a visit to their hospitalized mother and mother-in-law respectively in Monaco. This is what the lawyers said.
The Geneva public prosecutor Yves Bertossa demanded the arrest of the son and daughter-in-law. However, the court rejected this - on the grounds that the couple had their center of life in Switzerland. The risk of flight was low.