• AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    12 days ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Four members of the UK’s richest family are on trial in Switzerland amid allegations they spent more money caring for their dog than their servants.

    It’s alleged that Prakash and Kamal Hinduja, together with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata, confiscated staff passports, paid them as little as $8 (£7) for 18-hour days, and allowed them little freedom to leave the house.

    Although a financial settlement over exploitation was reached last week, the Hindujas remain on trial for trafficking, which is a serious criminal offence in Switzerland.

    They deny the charges.This week in court, one of Geneva’s most famous prosecutors, Yves Bertossa, compared the almost $10,000 a year he claimed the family had spent on their dog, to the daily amount they were allegedly paying their servants.The Hinduja family’s lawyers did not specifically deny the allegations of low wages, but said they must be viewed in context - noting that the staff were also receiving accommodation and food.

    Mr Bertossa is calling for prison terms, and millions of dollars in compensation as well as legal fees.

    It is not the first time that Geneva, a hub for international organisations as well as the world’s wealthy, has been in the spotlight over the alleged mistreatment of servants.


    The original article contains 449 words, the summary contains 207 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • alterforlett @lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      So, they were housed and fed while working 18 hour days, thus not being able to leave the house. So that’s their defence, that you have to take shelter into context. When they couldn’t leave… Fucking throw the book at them

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        Their defense is that they were literally using them as slaves by keeping them in slave quarters they can’t leave but we can’t call it forced slavery because they threw a couple euro coins in the cellar at the end of the day to call it wages

  • bookcrawler@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Happy to see something done at least. Annoyed knowing they were likely accused, and investigated due to their skin colour. As per some family there, you absolutely do not go certain places without a white friend or friends. If you’re going out by yourself you do it on crowded days and make sure you’re seen on security cameras and make note of where and when. That way when you get accused, because you will be, you’re covered.

    For context they were born and raised in Switzerland, one of their parents was as well. The other parent moved there from North America and has since become a Swiss citizen about 40 years ago. The parent that moved is a visible minority and continues to have an adventure of a time.

  • ynthrepic@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    Ia the royal family not the richest in the UK? Edit: Not just me wondering this I see!

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Feed the poor 🎸🎶 Until there are, no rich no more 🎶

      (The original starts with “Tax the rich” but you do what you can with what you got right?)

    • Adderbox76@lemmy.ca
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      11 days ago

      You don’t get to that level of “rich” by having the capacity to self-reflect.

  • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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    11 days ago

    Nobody becomes filthy rich by being honest. You can only become this rich by exploiting people and having absolutely no fucking empathy whatsoever.

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
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      11 days ago

      The biggest lotto win in the USA was $2.04 BN, in California. Subtract taxes and there is no way that comes close to the account of money other billionaires have ammassed, even assuming there was no outstanding debt to pay and the money was invested in high-yield investments (green or not). I believe you’re right.

      • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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        11 days ago

        In theory a modern artist, writer, musician, etc could become a billionaire from direct to customer sales, but I’ll believe it when it happens.

        • Patapon Enjoyer@lemmy.world
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          11 days ago

          Even them are profitting off the work of hundreds of people. Or rather, a publisher is profitting off of their work along with the work of a lot more people.

        • RampageDon@lemmy.world
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          11 days ago

          Isn’t Taylor Swift a billionaire? That is about the extent of my knowledge of her though.

          • PaleRider@feddit.uk
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            11 days ago

            Wasn’t Taylor Swift born into a wealthy family? That’s why she could take the time and chances to become a pop star. Not that I’m saying she isn’t talented, she obviously is, but a lot of talented poor kids don’t get that opportunity.

            • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
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              11 days ago

              Yeah. But I wonder if she’s the first billionaire off actual performance and content sales.

              • BakerBagel@midwest.social
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                11 days ago

                Kanye supposedly was before he lost all his endorsements for openly being a Nazi. Artists dont actually own any means of production so they can very quickly lose everything.

                • GiveMemes@jlai.lu
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                  11 days ago

                  Some do. Some, like Shaq or Ryan Reynolds (or Kanye) use their money to invest in other companies. Ryan Reynolds coming out and saying Nazi shit would probably be bad for Mint, just like Ye’s controversy was bad for Yeezy, just like Elon’s controversy is bad for Tesla.

          • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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            11 days ago

            Nah. Tons of merchandising, films, publishing etc.

            Those Quidditch brooms and plastic wands don’t assemble themselves in a sweatshop.

            Think more like if some self hosted webnovel had the same success somehow, or if she’d been as involved with checking the conditions of the merchandise empire as thoroughly as she was apparently involved in making sure the child actors were treated well. Not particularly likely, but hypothetically.

            • everyone_said@lemmy.world
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              11 days ago

              Why do the merchandise sales not count? Are they not a product of her creative writing? Many webnovelists sell merch. One of my favourite webnovelists semi-recently hired an editor, would that disqualify them?

              I’m a little confused on how you are defining the conditions. If the artist can only count their personal contributions than I don’t think it is possible in any sense. No person no matter how hard working or talented can personally generate a billion in profit.

  • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    They wouldn’t even notice the money they paid their staff properly. But people like that actually get off on the cruelty. I hope they throw those fuckers in jail.

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      I think maybe the rich folks just don’t think about their staff or employees as people, or they think they’re out to get them.

      I work manufacturing adjacent and see a lot of this attitude from the management layer. They think they own people and that every dollar they give them, every break, every word not out of necessity is the worker pulling one over on them.

      It’s a sad othering, like they’re not raking in money with these people. It’s like they think the money is coming no matter what, and every wasted moment is direct theft in opposition to them.

  • Adderbox76@lemmy.ca
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    11 days ago

    I’m not even kidding when I say it’s getting to be pretty close to the time that we need to break out the guillotines and remind these people what happens if they get too sure of themselves.

    • No. Probably why they came here.

      But seriously, why do rich Criminals always come here and think they can get away with it just because they’re rich? We arrested the child of Gaddafi. The son of a literal fucking dictator in charge of Libya, a country that is fairly important in European politics.

      If not even he got away with it, what makes you think you will?

      • whotookkarl@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        If you’re asking why wealthy people run to Switzerland specifically I have to assume it is in part due to the history of banks that make disclosing ownership a crime making them useful to hide capital in offshore accounts to dodge taxes in their home country, stash money related to crime or exploitation, laundering, etc. While their money may be stored anonymously once they show up in person they themselves are no longer anonymous and subject to arrest.