The Hinduja brothers

* Brothers include Prakash, 55, Srichand, 65, Gopichand, 60, and Ashok.

* Srichand and Gopichand are based in Britain while Prakash resides in Geneva and Ashok, Bombay.

* Listed as Britain's richest Asian family and among the 10 wealthiest people in the country.

* Global business empire worth billions of dollars.

* Originally set up in Iran, moved to London in 1979.

* 25,000 employees involved in film industry, oil, banking, media, pharmaceuticals, trucks, textiles, dried fruits, saffron, tea and other spices.

* Indian Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned the brothers over alleged £5.6 million commission given by Swedish arms maker Bofors for $1 billion Howitzer gun sales to India in 1986.

* Ashok has not been implicated in the corruption allegations.

* Deal is alleged to have contributed to the downfall of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's government in 1989.

* The Prince of Wales and former U.S. President George Bush congratulated three of the brothers' sons on their marriages in 1996.

* Brothers understood to have donated millions to the British Conservative party.

* Donated £1 million to the troubled Faith Zone at London's Millennium Dome, then under the stewardship of Peter Mandelson.

* Mandelson forced to resign as subsequent Northern Ireland secretary after allegations of acting improperly in British passport application on behalf of Srichand.

* Family business, the Hinduja Group, was started by the brothers' father, Parmanand, who moved to the UK from the province of Sindh, now in Pakistan.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Hinduja Group
Millennium Dome
Bofors
Central Bureau of Investigation, Government of India
Northern Ireland Office

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