Prakash Parmanand Hinduja (born June 1945) is an Indian-born Swiss businessman whose family is from the

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

region. He is also the chairman of the

Hinduja Group Hinduja Group is an Indian Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The group is present in eleven sectors including automotive, oil and specialty chemicals, banking and finance, IT and ITeS, cyber security, healthcare, trading, infrastructure proj ...

in Europe, with residences in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. As a business owner, his net worth as of 2024 is £37 billion, making him part of Britain's richest family. His wealth comes from interests such as oil, gas, and banking, as well as owning the Raffles London at The OWO. In June 2024, Hinduja, his wife, son, and daughter-in-law were sentenced to 4-4.5 years in jail for exploiting their domestic staff.

Early life

Prakash Parmanand Hinduja was born in June 1945, the son of

Parmanand Hinduja Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja (1900–1971) was an Indian businessman, the founder of the Hinduja Group. Career Hinduja was of Sindhi origin. Hinduja was responsible for establishing trading links between India and Persia (now Iran) in 1919. He ...

, and educated at university. He is of Sindhi origin. Starting out in Tehran, Iran, Prakash Hinduja soon moved to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

to look after the company’s Europe branch. He has been based out of Monaco since 2008 and presently, is the chairman of Hinduja Group (Europe).

Criminal charges

In 2021, Hinduja was investigated for

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

, and residency fraud in Switzerland. He was ordered by the

Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ( ; ; ; ; sometimes the Swiss Federal Tribunal) is the supreme court of the Swiss Confederation and the head of the Swiss judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is headquartered in the Federal Courth ...

to pay CHF125 million as financial collateral.

Human trafficking charges

The family of Prakash was accused of exploiting Indian staff in their mansion while cultivating a "climate of fear." For medical reasons, Prakash and his wife Kamal were unable to attend the proceedings that took place in a

criminal court, staying back in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. On 21 June 2024, Prakash, Kamal, their son Ajay, and daughter-in-law Namrata were sentenced to 4 to 4.5 years in jail for exploiting their domestic workers but were acquitted of more serious charges of human trafficking.

Personal life

He is married to Kamal Hinduja, they live in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and have two sons, Ajay and Ramkrishan, and a daughter, Renuka. Prakash and his three brothers are

teetotal Teetotalism is the practice of voluntarily abstaining from the consumption of alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to be ...

and vegetarian. The family of Kamal and Prakash Hinduja have a residence in Switzerland, in the village of

Cologny Cologny () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Cologny is first mentioned in 1208 as ''Colognier''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Neolithic lake side village which was discovered near the village ...

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

References

Prakash Businesspeople from Mumbai Indian emigrants to Switzerland 1945 births Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Living people Swiss people of Sindhi descent 21st-century Indian businesspeople Swiss people of Indian descent 21st-century Swiss businesspeople Swiss criminals {{Switzerland-business-bio-stub