Britain's richest family on trial in Switzerland for human trafficking

Four members of the UK's richest family are on trial in Switzerland.

The Hinduja family, worth an estimated £37bn ($47bn), is accused of exploitation and human trafficking.

The family owns a villa in Geneva's wealthy neighboring colony, and the charges against them relate to their practice of importing servants from India to look after their children and family.

It is alleged that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, along with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, confiscated staff's passports, paid them as little as $8 (£7) for an 18-hour day and allowed them little to leave their homes. gives freedom

Although a financial settlement over the exploitation was reached last week, Hinduja remains on trial for trafficking, a serious criminal offense in Switzerland. They denied the allegations.

In court this week, Yves Bertosa, one of Geneva's most famous prosecutors, compared the nearly $10,000 a year he claims the family spent on their dog, with the amount they were paying their servants per day.

Lawyers for the Hinduja family did not specifically deny allegations of low wages, but said they must be seen in context – noting that workers also received housing and food.

The long hour charge was also controversial, with a defense lawyer arguing that watching a film with Hinduja children could not really be classified as work.

Some former servants testified in favor of the Hindujas, describing them as a friendly family who treated their slaves with dignity.

But allegations that servants have their passports confiscated and cannot leave home without permission are serious, as they could be prosecuted as human trafficking.

Mr. Bartosa is seeking jail time and millions of dollars in damages as well as legal fees.

This is not the first time that Geneva, home to international corporations as well as the world's wealthy, has come under the spotlight for alleged mistreatment of servants.

In 2008, Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was arrested by police at his five-star Geneva hotel on information that he and his wife were beating their servants with a coat hanger. The case was later dropped.

But this caused a huge diplomatic row between Switzerland and Libya, with two Swiss nationals arrested in Tripoli as a retaliatory measure.

Just last year, four domestic workers from the Philippines launched a lawsuit against one of Geneva's diplomatic missions at the United Nations, claiming they had not been paid for years.

Hinduja's ongoing, high profile case will, once again, draw attention to the dark, ugly side of the city that likes to call itself the “city of peace”.