Swiss court sentences 4 members of Hinduja family to up to 4 1/2 years for exploiting their servants

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss criminal court has sentenced four members of the wealthy Hinduja family with between four and 4 1/2 years in prison for exploiting their vulnerable domestic workers. The court on Friday at the same time threw out the more severe charges of human trafficking. None of the four family members were in court in Geneva though a fifth defendant — the family’s business manager — was on hand. He received an 18 months suspended sentence. The court said the four were guilty of exploiting workers and providing unauthorized employment. It dismissed the trafficking charges on the grounds that the staff understood what they were getting into.