It is expected that the new announcement from Lusaka High Court will be positive information for the Zambezi Portland Cement as well as for those who are desperately trying to revive and re-grow the ruined cement factory, which is still unlawfully controlled and continuously looted by the most notorious family of Zambia, the Ventriglias. Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the owner of Finsbury Investments and Mahtani Group of Industries and ex-Chairman of Finance Bank Zambia, has been fighting this war for almost nine years. However, he has not achieved any success so far.

Since the launch of the case, it has been handled by various judges. Some got transferred, some left the case. However, no progress has been achieved so far. The case was launched against the husband-wife duo of the Ventriglias family, Antonio Ventriglia and Manuela Ventriglia. After that, the Ventriglias initiated a counter-claim making them plaintiffs & the Finsbury Investments as counterclaim defendants. In the past few months, both parties have submitted their evidence and statements. As per the latest announcement, the court hearing has been concluded and the final judgment will be announced after both parties have shared their oral and written submissions by December 2017.

Dr. Mahtani has claimed that he holds 58 percent shares at the factory. To prove this claim, Dr. Mahtani has submitted signed shareholder agreement. The rest of the shares are held by the Ventriglia family. Furthermore, an independent audit report confirms that the factory was established under joint venture partnership and Dr. Mahtani was the sole custodian of the factory as its JV partner. He has also claimed that Finsbury Investments, which is under Dr. Rajan Mahtani, has invested more than USD 8 million for the growth and development of the factory, apart from total investment in the share capital for the factory. The Ventriglias, on the other hand, have not invested even a cent.

The final judgment will be announced after evaluating the submissions from both sides.