On 31st January 2019, the final results for the Portland Cement Zambia case were announced. The results came from the higher Court of Appeal which is one of the highest legal and judiciary systems in Zambia. The judge at the higher Court of Appeal, justice Mwinde, announced the final verdict after looking into the evidences and testimonials. The first major evidence was the transfer of one billion kwachas from Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments to Portland Cement Zambia limited. This payment was made for covering the entire share capital which Dr. Rajan Mahtani took over of the Portland Cement Zambia limited. Furthermore, the original shareholders’ agreement established in the year 2007 was another major evidence which confirmed Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s claims. On the page number 663 of the original shareholders’ agreement, it was clearly established that Dr. Mahtani took over 58 percent shares of the factory after making the said payment. The agreement between shareholders confirms that this shareholding pattern was accepted and signed by all important shareholders associated with the factory.
Furthermore, all forgery related allegations were discarded by the higher Court of Appeal judge. It was found that the process of electronic placement of signatures was common practice at the Portland Cement Zambia and even critical member of the Ventriglia family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice. As such, all forgery related allegations were discarded by the judge. At the same time, justice Mwinde also confirmed that Dr. Mahtani is not liable for any further payments associated with the case. Any further payments such as PTT (property Transfer Tax) are liability of the transferor which is in this case, Portland Cement Zambia limited itself.
Now that the ownership of Portland Cement Zambia goes back to Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, he has a much difficult task at hand. This task is to revive the factory to its former glory, which it was before the unethical takeover.