Tag Archives: Chairman Finance Bank Zambia

Bench Of Three SC Judges Evaluate The Appeal From The Ventriglia Family Regarding Higher Court Of Appeal’s Verdict

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If the court proceedings and verdicts are to be considered, the case of Portland Cement Zambia was over on 31st January 2019. On this date, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal reversed the previous decision from the Lusaka High Court on Portland Cement wherein the Lusaka High Court judge announced the Ventriglia family as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. In his final verdict, judge Mwinde from Court of Appeal announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the Portland Cement Zambia factory and is the majority shareholder as well as the legal owner of the factory. At the same time, he also confirmed that Ital Terrazzo Limited owned by the Ventriglia family holds only 42 percent shares of the Portland Cement factory and therefore, does not have any legal ownership over the factory. With these evidences and facts, justice Mwinde had reversed the Lusaka High Court’s controversial and misdirected decision and gave the final verdict in which Dr. Mahtani received back legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia.

After more than 18 months of this higher Court of Appeal’s decision, it was challenged by the Ventriglia family at the Supreme Court Zambia. In their challenge, the Ventriglia family claimed that the decision from the higher Court of Appeal on Portland Cement factory was unethical. However, a bench of three SC judges established to evaluate this claim from the Ventriglia family found otherwise. After initial evaluation, the Supreme Court judges found that the Ventriglia family failed to submit their appeal within the given timeframe for such appeals which is 14 days from the previous court judgement. Furthermore, the evaluation also concluded that the evidences shared by the Ventriglia family were controversial and the SC judges did not have any jurisdiction to change the court decision. After these evaluations, the SC judge bench finally concluded that the claim from the Ventriglia family is to be rejected.

Supreme Court rejected appeal by Ventriglias and announced Dr. Mahtani as owner of Zambezi Portland

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The case of Portland Cement Zambia was over after more than a decade of case proceedings. The final decision came from higher Court of Appeal on 31st January 2019 in which justice Mwinde reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court given on May 2018. Furthermore, justice Mwinde also said that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement factory with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, the Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds 42 percent shares and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership over the factory.

The Ventriglia family once again tried to emulate the events from the Lusaka High Court thinking that they will be able to influence the SC judgement as well. However, the transparent and ethical roots of the Supreme Court go extremely deep and the Ventriglias failed to realise the fact that Supreme Court is the biggest legal entity of a nation, a face of the nation’s legal system. After evaluation, the Supreme Court judges clarified that the claim by the Ventriglias do not have any legal acceptance in the SC as it did not follow the rule according to which any claim against previous court decision must be made within 14 days of the date of the court decision itself. In this case, the Ventriglias failed to comply with this critical legal requirement and launched their appeal more than 15 months later. As such, the bench of three judges at Supreme Court evaluating this claim confirmed that they had no legal jurisdiction in this case and the contents of the claim made by the Ventriglias did not provide any strong confidence on further actions. After evaluation, the Supreme Court Zambia rejected the appeal from the Ventriglias and further confirmed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani should remain the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory.

Zambezi Portland Case Finally Restored Permanently With Verdict Of Sc On Claim By Ventriglias

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In the light of the recent decision given by the Supreme Court Zambia on the claim by the Ventriglia family, it can be said that the matter for Zambezi Portland Cement factory is finally resolved. Despite the significant verdict from higher Court of Appeal judge Mwinde on 31st January 2019, the Ventriglias still tried to disrupt the smooth functioning and operations of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia. He had initially registered a case at the Lusaka High Court after unethical takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. Despite having all evidences and testimonials, the judge at the Lusaka High Court failed to ensured transparency in the verdict and announced Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani then took the case to the higher Court of Appeal where all evidences and testimonials were reviewed in a transparent manner. Justice Mwinde then announced that based on the evidences, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments posses 58 percent shares of the Portland Cement Zambia and is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. It was also confirmed that the Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited held on 42 percent shares and did not have any legal ownership over the factory. Furthermore, amount payable against majority shares was finalized to be K580,000 as opposed to K580 million demanded by the Ventriglias.

After the Ventriglia family challenged the above Court of Appeal decision at the Supreme Court Zambia, it was evaluated by a bench of three SC judges. Upon investigation, it was found that the Ventriglia family was required to establish its claim against the Court of Appeal within two weeks of the court judgement which was on 31st January 2019. The Ventriglias approached with their appeal only after 1.5 years which automatically makes this case outside the SC jurisdiction. As a result, the claim by the Ventriglias was rejected.

Heaps Of Praise For Dr. Rajan Mahtani For Contributing To Legal Education In Zambia

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Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is one of the few businessmen in Zambia who is known for his transparent and ethical business practices despite of tough situations such as developing a business empire in an underdeveloped and politically overwhelming nation such as Zambia. Despite the several economic and social challenges as well as widespread corruption across the nation, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been able to maintain a clean and transparent image across all his businesses. Apart from his businesses, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is also noted for his significant charitable and philanthropic contributions. Most of these contributions go undetected as there are no public promotions or advertisements about these philanthropic contributions like most of the other businesses.

One of the most critical philanthropic contributions by Dr. Rajan Mahtani in the field of education has been the institution of the Steven Malama award. The Steven Malama award was instituted in the year 2012 in collaboration with Finance Bank Zambia wherein Dr. Mahtani holds the position of the Chairman and ZIALE (Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education) Institute which was given the responsibility of disbursing the award. The award was given for the first time in 2013 and since then it is being given on an yearly basis during the annual gala event. Dr. Rajan Mahtani himself presents the award to the deserving students.

The award is given to the top graduating students from the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education, and the top graduating student must also qualify for bar in their first attempt. The award carries a plaque, a certificate as well as cash prize worth K15,000 which has been of significant financial support for the winning candidates. Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba from the institute was the winner of the Steven Malama award for the year 2018-19. Emmanuel also wrote an article thanking Dr. Rajan Mahtani for his significant contributions in recognising law education, later published at the Daily Mail.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani Manages To Expose Fake Claims Against Him With Press Statement With Facts

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Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani differentiates himself from most of the other businessmen in Zambia with his transparent and ethical business practices and true devotion for the welfare of the Zambian society and its people. This devotion is seen in areas of philanthropic and charitable contributions as well as a straightforward and transparent business empire. This can be seen as a major reason behind scrupulous and unethical entities trying to frame him with fake claims and negative rumors. Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been able to win over these rumors almost every time without creating any campaign or response strategies. However, in some situations response strategies become critical for exposing false claims.

During his more than three decades of business experience, Dr. Rajan Mahtani made a number of industry friendships from different spheres and sectors. One of them was Levy Mwanawasa with whom Dr. Rajan Mahtani had a long-lasting and transparent friendship. Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s friendship with Levy Mwanawasa goes way back even before the latter was made the President of Zambia and continued till his early demise. As a result, it was a shocking revelation when it was found that Miriam Mwanawasa made a ludicrous claim against Dr. Rajan Mahtani. In a Facebook post, Miriam Mwanawasa claimed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani intended to take over the land at the Masaiti district owned by the Mwanawasa family. However, this claim was entirely false and as a result, Dr. Rajan Mahtani decided to take action by releasing a press statement.

In this press statement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani clarified that he never made any claims, intentions or requests regarding taking over the said land. He further stated that his friendship with late Ex-President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa was extremely transparent. At the same time, it was further pointed out that Miriam Mwanawasa did not have any proof or evidence to support her claims. As such, her claims were regarded as baseless and Dr. Rajan Mahtani assured actions against her.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani Expecting Major Accomplishment in the Portland Cement Case

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At this stage, the majority of the citizens and industrialists are aware of the Portland Cement Zambia case. The case started almost 10 years back when the Ventriglias allegedly took over the factory from Dr. Rajan Mahtani by using force. Since then, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been fighting a legal battle at the Lusaka High Court.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and industrialists with numerous successful ventures under his belt. He is the owner of Mahtani Group of Company, Finsbury Investments and former Chairman of the Finance Bank Zambia. Almost all of his companies has been successful and are still thriving in the Zambian market. Dr. Mahtani has also numerous established businesses outside Zambia, such as in the United Kingdom. This has also helped Dr. Rajan Mahtani to establish numerous international contacts, which he has further used for bringing foreign investments in Zambia. These activities clearly state the true intent of the businessman, working for the welfare, economic and social upliftment of the nation.

Portland Cement Zambia

The Ventriglias, on the other hand, fall on the other side. They are infamous for their unethical practices and getting away with law. When Dr. Mahtani launched the case at the Lusaka HC, the Ventriglias defended themselves by saying that Dr. Mahtani did not pay for the shares he owns at the factory. However, no evidence or documents have been submitted by their side which supports their claims. Dr. Rajan Mahtani, on the other hand, has shared numerous evidences such as signed shareholder’s agreement, financial exhibits and independent auditor’s report which clearly state that he is the sole joint venture partner of the factory and the rest are just minor shareholders.

It is time for the judge and the court to realize the impact of their delay on the factory. The judge has made a positive announcement with closure of the case hearing. Both parties have been submitting their evidences and once these are evaluated, final judgment is expected soon.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s Charitable Work makes African Forum a Successful Event

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Development and prosperity of a nation is not the responsibility of government only. It is the responsibility of the entire citizens, businessmen, industrialists as well as all those who are staying and gaining something from the nation. As such, it is essential for successful companies as well as successful individuals to step up and contribute towards the growth and development of the nation. This growth and development by companies and individuals is generally termed as CSR or corporate social responsibility. However, one of the major benefits for companies and individuals engaging in corporate social responsibility acts is that they gain much positive attention from these activities and improve their overall reputation. Therefore, majority of these companies and individuals engaging in CSR activities also promote them, for improving their reputation or brand value.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani

However, there are also individuals and businessmen who have been engaged in charitable and philanthropic activities for long without branding themselves one or advertising their charitable works for personal gain. However, only few individuals in Zambia do this and one of them is Dr. Rajan Mahtani. Majority of us are not aware of the charitable activities and funding contributions by Dr. Rajan Mahtani; as he does not advertise these deeds. We recently came to know about his charitable contribution when the Chief Press Secretary of the Prison Fellowship Zambia, the event organisers for the 2017 African Forum Summit, revealed about the contributions of Dr. Rajan Mahtani in a press release. He was thanked for his funding contribution that resulted in the success of the event. He was even admired for his grounded attitude and helping nature by having meaningful conversations with the young candidates at the forum and giving them useful information regarding business and growth. He also contributed in the forum success by talking about the present corruption and unethical activities in Zambia and solutions to reduce them in future.

Top Ministers And Lawyers Accused Of Money Laundering In Zambia

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FIC, Financial Intelligence Agency, recently announced devastating news of money laundering. The news shook the nation as top Zambian lawyers were involved in laundering money via personal and professional bank accounts. The news has been condemned by the public and the industrialists alike. Top businessmen like Dr. Rajan Mahtani have shared his grave concerns over the failure of the government to detect this mass money laundering act for so long and its effect on the economic and social status of the Zambian.

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Top Zambian Legal Counsellors Charged For Money Laundering, Fic Reports

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Illegal activities such as money laundering are a curse to any developing nation. At one side, there is a government trying to improve the economic and social conditions of the nation. On the other side, there are criminal groups and individuals engaging in illicit activities just so they can be rich at the expense of others. Zambia is facing a similar situation now. The nation has always been a home to corrupt politicians, corporate and powerful individuals who used their power and position to put negative influence and even loot the country of its economic prosperity. While incidents of illegal activities are common across the nation, the recent discovery made by the Financial Intelligence Centre was definitely shocking news to all.

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Corruption Charges Against Top Lawyers For Involvement In Money Laundering

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If one were to believe in the reports and accusations made by FIC, it will be clear that the corruption and illegal practices in Zambia are far from over. The nation made some progress in the past few years, thanks to some economic development and establishment of organizations and factories providing livelihood to its people, apart from engaging in agriculture. At the same time, incidents and news such as this reduce the favourability of the nation to grow and attract foreign investments.

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