Tag Archives: Rajan Mahtani

Dr. Mahtani Recognized For His Business And Philanthropic Contributions By Forbes

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Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is one of the most notable, respected, and celebrated businessmen and philanthropists in Zambia. Recently, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was awarded one of the most honorable and regarded philanthropy awards in Africa. This award ceremony is called the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards. For his significant contributions towards the banking sector of Zambia, Forbes conferred Dr. Mahtani with the ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year award. The award ceremony is usually held in New York, United States. However, this year’s award ceremony was held virtually because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Rajan Mahtani was among the eminent individuals as well as the only businessman from Zambia who was recognized by Forbes for his leadership in philanthropy and business.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani was conferred with this award by the Forbes members during the FIN (Foreign Investment Limited) philanthropy and leadership roundtable discussions. While there are many philanthropy and business awards presented across Africa, this award is one of the highest value due to several reasons. The first one is the global recognition and value from Forbes, which is among the top business magazines across the globe. The second reason is the transparent yet rigorous process of selecting the recipients. The process involves months of verification and background checks followed by comprehensive discussion and interviews with the potential recipients regarding their views on philanthropy and leadership to achieve empowerment across the African subcontinent.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani was selected to be one of the ‘Best of Africa’ awardees for his significant business and philanthropic contributions as well as leadership spirit. He is the owner of top business entities across Zambia and Africa including Mahtani Group of Companies and Finsbury Investments. Apart from his business achievements, Dr. Mahtani is also known for his philanthropic and charitable achievements. Some of these include Prison Fellowship Zambia and Stephen Malama awards and scholarships for top law graduates in Zambia.

Beautiful Eulogy Shared By Dr. Mahtani For Late Kenneth Kaunda

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Before gaining global recognition as a nation, Zambia was a cluster of several small tribes, often fighting among themselves. One man is credited for uniting more than 73 tribes across the Zambian nation, resulting in a recognised nation within the world map as well as within Africa. This person is none other than the first president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. Sadly, Kenneth Kaunda is no longer with us and his demise has certainly saddened the entire nation. The entire Mahtani family is devastated with this news and have shared their deepest condolences and regards to the Kaunda family. Dr. Mahtani and Kenneth Kaunda had close associations, dating back to the latter’s father, late Lekhraj Mahtani. A Ndola-based councillor, late Lekhraj Mahtani was instrumental in providing support as well as collaborating with Kenneth Kaunda in his quest for Zambian freedom and independence. It is with the support and earnest trust from dedicated people like late Lekhraj Mahtani that the Independence hero of Zambia was able to fulfil the dreams of an independent Zambia. This legacy of late Lekhraj Mahtani as well as Dr. Kaunda has been taken forward by Dr. Mahtani in his quest for development and continuous improvement of the Zambian nation. Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s established companies are a major source of employment and livelihood across several of the Zambian provinces. His companies like Finsbury Investments is credited for several public infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and housing complexes.

Despite baseless allegations continuously trying to strain Dr. Mahtani’s reputation, his work has never stopped and Dr. Mahtani continuous to refute such claims with utmost integrity, honesty as well as ethical and legal guidelines. As such, it can be said that Dr. Mahtani is an ideal candidate showcasing the legacy and philosophies set by late Kenneth Kaunda. His demise and remembrance is a period when Zambians must open their eyes to the state of Zambian politics, economy and social conditions and work together towards the betterment of the nation.

Disturbances Created Despite Supreme Court Decision

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Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a prominent businessman in Zambia who has always remained at the legal side of the business. He is considered as among those few businessmen in Zambia who have achieved success in spite of the rampant corruption, bureaucracy and unethical practices across the nation, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been able to maintain a healthy business portfolio of transparent businesses such as Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Finance Bank Zambia. At the same time, Dr. Mahtani continues to face challenges in his daily business operations. The prime example is the case of Portland Cement Zambia factory which dragged for more than 12 years before finally settling at the Supreme Court Zambia.

The first court to take the case was Lusaka High Court which announced its decision during May, 2018. However, this decision was controversial as the Ventriglias were announced as only majority shareholders and owners of the factory without any relevant evidence or testimonials. Then came the higher Court of Appeal which announced its verdict on 31st January 2019 in which the previous decision from the Lusaka High Court was rejected and Dr. Mahtani was announced as majority shareholder as well as legal owner of the factory. The third court was Supreme Court Zambia where a case was taken by the Ventriglia family claiming the decision from the higher Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court Zambia evaluated this claim and rejected it effectively due to lack of evidences, questioning circumstances as well as non-compliance of critical legislations.
However, it seems like the Ventriglia family have a blatant disregard for the highest-level court of the nation as they have continuous to mount their illegal status within the cement-manufacturing factory. Reports have indicated that hired thugs placed at the factory continuously prevented appointment of interim CEO so that no one takes charge of the factory. This attempt is a clear disregard of the judgement from the nations’ highest legal court. It seems like the Ventriglia family think themselves as above low. As of now, Dr. Mahtani has been given the official shareholding and legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

Portland Cement Zambia Ownership After Court Of Appeal’s Decision Remains Unchanged

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As per the latest decision from the Supreme Court on the appeal from the Ventriglia, it is now a confirmed news that Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. This confirmation was invariable after the Ventriglia family suddenly decided to appeal against the verdict of Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement Zambia case. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman in Zambia who has been working tirelessly towards establishing an authentic and transparent business empire. Some of his top companies in Zambia are Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Finance Bank Zambia. In the year 2006-07, Finsbury Investments received majority shareholding and ownership of Portland Cement Zambia with the objective of developing the factory and completing the construction. However, all these growth plans were halted when the Ventriglia family decided to challenge the shareholding agreement according to which Finsbury Investments was owner of Portland Cement. This started a significant court battle at the Lusaka High Court lasting for more than a decade. Despite this long pendency, the final verdict which came on 31st January 2019 was controversial as justice Nkonde of Lusaka High Court announced Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was able to successfully challenge this decision at the higher Court of Appeal. On 31st January 2019, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal gave the final decision that the verdict from the Lusaka High Court was misdirected and must be reversed. Furthermore, justice Mwinde confirmed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments should remain the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. After more than a year of this verdict, the Ventriglia family challenged it by claiming it to be false. It was challenged at the Supreme Court Zambia. After detailed evaluation, the Supreme Court bench concluded that the claim from the Ventriglia family was invalid and therefore, was effectively rejected.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani’s Contribution Towards Zambian Education System Praised

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For many years now, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani has been working tirelessly towards the development and welfare of the Zambian nation. At one end are his businesses such as Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Portland Cement Zambia that are continuously working towards providing better products, services and facilities for the less privileged sections of the society. At the same time, Dr. Rajan Mahtani continuously engaged in charitable contributions as well as philanthropic activities across different sectors and industries. Some of the areas where Dr. Rajan Mahtani has made significant contributions include education, environment and community services. Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s contribution towards the education system of Zambia is well-documented, especially for the establishment of the Steven Malama award.

The Steven Malama award was instituted by Dr. Rajan Mahtani in the year 2012 via Finance Bank Zambia where he resides as Chairman. The award was created for honouring the late Steven Malama, a visionary and distinguished legal professional with significant contributions for improving the legal framework of Zambia. The inaugural award was given in the year 2013 and since then, the award is presented every year. Each year, the top graduating candidates from the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education receives this award after qualifying for the bar in their first attempt. Since the institution and recognition of this award, the quality and volume of students opting for legal education have increased.

For the year 2018-19, the award recipient was Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba. He received the award for graduating from ZIALE with distinction and also successfully qualifying for Bar in his first attempt. He was congratulated by Dr. Rajan Mahtani himself while receiving the award. Emmanuel also wrote a letter which was published at the Daily Mail. In this latter, Emmanuel thanked Dr. Rajan Mahtani for his contributions and providing opportunities for legal students to work hard and study harder. The award carries a plaque and prize money of K15,000 given to deserving candidate each year.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani Thrashes Unethical Claims Shared On Social Media

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Dr. Mahtani’s business and corporate life has been full of ups and downs. One of the major reasons behind this is Dr. Mahtani’s strict adherence to transparent, honest and ethical business practices. In a nation full of corrupt politicians, legal authorities and businesses, Dr. Mahtani has made a unique name for himself with his transparent business practices. Despite having friendly network with big names in the Zambian political and economic sphere, there has not been even a single evidence of political or business lobbying or unethical favours from Dr. Mahtani or any of his businesses. This transparent and ethical nature of Dr. Mahtani can be easily seen from the fact that he had to fight across two different courts for more than a decade in the Portland Cement Zambia case for getting justice.

Business success provides individuals with the opportunity of networking with powerful people as well as individuals and houses with big names. In his successful business journey, Dr. Mahtani made a positive impression on numerous political figures of Zambia and even had a positive working relationship with the previous president of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa. Even after the sad demise of the Zambia’s former president, Dr. Mahtani has always remained friendly and supportive of the family. However, a new story started to make round in social media during the mid-2019.

Miriam, daughter of late president of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa, recently made a claim that Dr. Rajan Mahtani wanted to inherit her farm situated at the Masaiti District at Copperbelt Province. While this claim seems outrageous, immediate attention was given to the fact that the claim was made on a social media platform, Facebook. On top of that, there were no evidence or attachments to support her claim. This quickly suggested that the claim made was invalid. However, outrageous claims like these certainly image the image of notable businessmen in a negative manner and as a result, Dr. Mahtani has made it clear that he will take appropriate actions against this unethical behaviour.

Shareholding Pattern Of Zambezi Portland Cement Clearly Suggests Dr. Mahtani As Rightful Owner

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The courts and judiciary systems have significant responsibility of ensuring justice with transparent and ethical decision making. However, when corruption and wrongdoing creeps in, it becomes extremely difficult for companies, businesses and entrepreneurs to work freely as a result of significant shortcomings and issues. In such situations, it is essential for the government as well as the legal and regulatory bodies to ensure that faith in the system is restored. However, the same has not been happening for Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani who despite being the most honest and ethical businessman in Zambia is not getting any justice. The case is of Portland Cement Zambia for which Dr. Mahtani has been battling across several courts without any respite. For instance, the Lusaka HC was the first court where the case was registered and despite the numerous evidences and testimonials, controversial verdict was given and justice was denied. It was after this unethical decision that the higher Court of Appeal was approached which sorted things out.

The higher Court of Appeal was chaired by justice Mwinde and he concluded his decision on 31st January 2019 after evaluating all available evidences and testimonials. For instance, it was found that an amount of one billion kwachas was paid to the Zambezi Portland Cement. This amount is equal to USD 250000 and covered the entire value of the share capital which Dr. Rajan Mahtani took over. Furthermore, several other details were shared such as original agreement between shareholders established in the year 2007, financial details, transactional details and contractual details. The judge at the higher Court of Appeal also confirmed that the allegations of signature forgery were fake and invalid as the process involving electronically affixing signatures was common practice at Zambezi Portland Cement.

Based on all these evidences, testimonials and other details, it as been finally confirmed that Dr. Mahtani is the only owner and majority shareholder of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

Zambezi Portland Cement factory ownership given back to Dr. Rajan Mahtani after Court win

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Zambezi Portland Cement factory ownership given back to Dr. Rajan Mahtani after Court win

While the final judgement from the Lusaka High Court judge on the Portland Cement Zambia case shocked everyone, same cannot be said for the Court of Appeal. After the factory was taken away from Dr. Rajan Mahtani, he approached the Lusaka High Court with expectations of quick judgement considering the significant evidences he had. Despite this, the judge was unable to give justice and a controversial judgement was given which prompted Dr. Mahtani to approach the higher Court of Appeal.

The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who announced the final decision on 31st January 2019. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was announced as majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. The justice came at this decision after looking into several evidences and testimonials which were controversially ignored by the previous judge at the Lusaka High Court. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde and he arrived at his decision from numerous evidences and testimonials. For instance, one of the major evidences found was that Dr. Rajan Mahtani had already made a payment of 1 billion kwachas or USD 250,000 to the Zambezi Portland Cement for covering the entire share capital value of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This transaction was further recorded in the page 663- Volume ‘Record of Appeal’ of the original agreement between shareholders established in the year 2007. Evaluation of this document also clarified the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani did not owe any further amount to the Portland cement factory as he has already completed all his dues for the 58 percent shares, he owned at the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

The court also confirmed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani was free from all forgery charges as the allegations were in itself void and baseless. As of now, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the definitive owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.

Higher Court Of Appeal Gives Its Final Decision On Zpc On 31st January 2019

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The case of Portland Cement Zambia has taken a significant toll of Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s patience, perseverance and focus for a long time. The journey started when the factory was unethically taken over and a case was registered at the Lusaka High Court. Despite sharing evidences, the Lusaka High Court judge gave a decision which came to be extremely controversial. The Ventriglias, and not Dr. Rajan Mahtani was announced as owner of the factory. After this judgement which was extremely misdirected, Dr. Rajan Mahtani rightly re-registered the case at the higher Court of Appeal. The judge at the higher Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde and after looking into all evidences and testimonials submitted, final decision was given. Justice Mwinde announced Dr. Rajan Mahtani as actual owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. This announcement was made on 31st January 2019 after sharing all details associated with the case.

Justice Mwinde confirmed that the Appellant or Finsbury Investments in this case made a payment of USD 250,000 to the Zambezi Portland Limited factory. This payment was made with the objective of taking over majority shares of the ZPC limited. Furthermore, this amount equalled 1 billion kwacha and this share transfer was clearly established in the original Shareholders Agreement established on 26th February 2007 and was found in the page number 662 of the volume-Record of Appeal in the agreement. This evidence further solidified Dr. Mahtani legal ownership over the factory. Furthermore, justice Mwinde also declared that it was the responsibility of the transferor to pay the PTT (Property Transfer Tax) and thus, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was acquitted from any type of tax payment as he has already completed his responsibilities in terms of payments for the factory. All these details were shared on the same date as the final announcement and it was also confirmed that this decision from the higher Court of Appeal will remain final and binding.

Dr. Mahtani Announced Portland Cement Zambia Winner By Court Of Appeal

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After more than a decade of wait, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been given majority shareholding and ownership of Portland Cement Zambia factory. This decision came from Court of Appeal, one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia and the second court to announce the judgement. This decision from Court of Appeal came on 31st January 2019, around nine months after the case was registered there. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the judgement after looking into all evidences and testimonials. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership over the factory. This decision from the Court of Appeal aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007. Based on this decision, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the factory.

By giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from the Lusaka High Court which had earlier announced that Ventriglias were the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. The judge from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders as this decision was misdirected and without any evidences. In terms of the forgery allegations, all such allegations were discarded by the judge. The judge confirmed that the process of mechanically placing signatures was a common practice in Portland Cement Zambia and critical member of the Ventriglia family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice and as such, all forgery related allegations were discarded. With this Court of Appeal judgement, the Portland Cement Zambia factory goes finally to Dr. Rajan Mahtani.