Members of Britain’s richest family have been handed jail sentences after being found guilty of exploiting their vulnerable domestic workers and providing unauthorised employment.

The four family members are Indian-born tycoon Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal, along with their son Ajay and his wife Namrata.

However a Swiss court cleared the foursome of more serious charges of human trafficking linked to their servants.

The court ruled that the servants, who worked at their lakeside villa in Geneva, had known what it was they were getting into.

Jail terms spanning four to four-and-a-half years was handed down to the family members, whose lawyers said they would appeal the conviction.

The defendants were not in court to hear testimony sentence, although the family’s business manager Najib Ziazi was present. He was given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Last week, the court heard the family had reached an undisclosed settlement with the plaintiffs.

They were accused of alleged illegal activity, including exploitation, human trafficking and violation of Swiss labour laws.

Prosecutors said the workers were sometimes forced to work up to 18 hours a day with little or no holiday time off.

They were allegedly paid less than one-tenth of the comparable amount required under Swiss law.

The prosecution said the workers lived under a “climate of fear” and some allegedly received their wages in Indian rupees which were paid into bank accounts back home that they could not access.

The family controls the multinational conglomerate the Hinduja group, whose businesses range from trucks and lubricants to banking and cable television.

Prakash Hinduja’s brother Gopichand took over as chairman after older sibling Srichand died in May 2023.

The family, led by Gopi, topped the 2024 Sunday Times rich list with a combined wealth of £37.196bn.