The news of the moment is that the Finance Bank Chairman, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been arrested by the police in context to an offense which was previously declared to be ‘permanently closed’ by the Office of the Attorney General in 2012.

Internal sources suggest that the key figure behind this arrest, Kaizer Zulu, Assistant of Presidential Political Affairs has been heavily funded by the Ventriglia family. The motive behind this arrest was to stop Dr. Rajan Mahtani from taking legal actions against the violent takeover of the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory by the Ventriglia family in April 2015.

With high dignity for the Finance Bank Zambia, Dr. Mahtani has resigned from the post of the Chairman and has handed over his responsibilities to William Boli Nyirenda. At the time of arrest, witnesses suggested that Dr. Mahtani looked calm and followed the orders of the officials with grace.

The case is similar to an incident where Dr. Mahtani was previously arrested in 2012 under the administration of Rupiah Banda. At that time, the Ventriglias played the same dirty game and Dr. Mahtani was later released for a bail of K 25, 000.

The only thing that the people of Zambia can now do is to wait for the release of Dr. Mahtani and hope that the corruption of the Ventriglia family is finally put to an end.

The Finance Bank Chairman and an integral part of Finsbury Investments, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the decision of winding up the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory on Friday, 22 May 2015. This decision was made under the pressure of preserving the workers’ interest and ending a conflict with the minority shareholders of the ZPC, the Ventriglia family.

A petition has been filed with the Lusaka High Court where Dr. Mahtani has requested the authority to wind up the ZPC as it was ‘just and equitable’ under the prevailing conditions. The Ventriglia family is constantly taunted Dr. Mahtani with fake reports and have also deprived workers with their monthly wage. However, irrespective of their criminal stories they continue to publish generous articles under their own name with the help of funded news portals such as Zambia Reports.

The decision of winding up the Zambezi Portland Cement factory was not easy for Dr. Mahtani. It was the same factory which flourished in 2014 and broke all records. Who can forget the milestone which it had achieved by producing 100000 tonnes of cement in excess of forecasted output. Sadly, all the dreams have now been shattered as the Ventriglia family has ruined the balance and work culture in the ZPC. An image of the filed petition has been attached below:

Recently, Lusaka Times has published an article under the title ‘Rajan Mahtani summoned to appear before Police in Lusaka’. Though the article revolved around an incident which recently took place between the Lusaka Police and the personnel of the Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the title of the article instigates a negative thought.

As per the actual incident, on May 14 2015, a police officer by the name of Mr. Kataka visited the office of Dr. Mahtani with a view to call him for an interview at the Zambian Police Headquarters scheduled at 2: 00 pm. Unfortunately, Dr. Mahtani was not present in Africa at that time and hence, the officer left his phone number and name so that he can be contacted later on.

Within a matter of minutes, this news had reached Dr. Rajan Mahtani and he immediately had a conversation with Mr. Kataka and assured him of a meeting when he returns to Zambia. Sadly, this news is being portrayed in such a manner that it appears that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is about to face some legal consequences. Simeza, Sangwa & Associates had recently sent a letter to the Zambia Police Service in this regard. A copy of that letter is attached below:

The name of Dr. Rajan Mahtani has often been dragged in conspiracies. Some say that he is a dishonest person whereas, some say that has a habit of forging signatures. So why not make things clear today?

Dr. Rajan Mahtani, is a proud Zambian and the Chairman of the Finance Bank of Zambia. He has occupied the status of the Finance Bank Chairman ever since 1985 and continues to deliver excellence for the organization. Being a humble person and a philanthropist, he has always believed that the best way to achieve success is by helping the poor and making steady developments in the banking and heavy scale industry.

Who can forget his contribution of K 50, 000 which was available to the senior citizens who had previously fought for Zambia’s independence. Additionally, the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory under Dr. Rajan Mahtani also built 129 houses in Ndola for the people who were displaced earlier on account of industrial development.

At the present date, Zambia Reports is consistently after Dr. Mahtani as the Ventriglia family has paid the media portal a handsome amount to execute the task. Nevertheless, the love and popularity for Dr. Mahtani has not degraded and he continues to inspire thousands of Zambians.

After the deportation was lifted, the Ventriglias have made a thrilling comeback in Ndola. They have not only managed to take over the Zambezi Portland Cement in the ‘Mafia style’, but have also managed to save a lot of money for themselves in May by not offering salaries to their existing employees.

The outcome was that the public lost their confidence on the Ventriglias and in spite of the influence of their funded portal, Zambia Reports, everyone was well aware of the truth. Therefore, with a view to enhance their reputation the Ventriglia family announced that it would increase the salary of the existing employees by 10%. Additionally, the increase in salary would be accompanied by better working conditions. However, it has become hard for the employees of the ZPC to believe this announcement as they are well aware of the sentiment of the present management group.

On one hand, they have failed to pay the basic salary to their plant employees for the month of April and on the other hand, they are promising a hiked salary for May. From the past activities of the Ventriglia family, it can be inferred that there is a smart plan being executed, which looks forward to gain the support of the employees and the locals. Sadly, we all know that this is just a sham intended to offer publicity.

The Zambezi Portland Cement Factory in Ndola was attacked by the Ventriglias during the early hours of April 7, 2015. The news came as a shock to Finsbury Investment, who owned 58% of the shares of ZPC legally. Though, Finsbury Investment already possessed an injunction for ZPC, the Ventriglias ignored all warnings and pursued their quest with the aid of Sakwiba Sikota.

Sakwiba Sikota, in a statement claimed that Finsbury Investment had withdrawn their status as owners of ZPC. To put it in his words, ‘Finsbury gave up the battle.’ The lawyer is well-known for his cheap tactics and has played an important role towards the return of the Ventriglias.

A question that remains unanswered by the conspirators is why will Finsbury Investment need an injunction if it had already surrendered its ownership over ZPC? The state of affairs in Ndola clearly suggests that the loot for ZPC was a well-planned action formulated by the Ventriglias and other funded parties in Zambia which includes Zambia Reports. Dr. Rajan Mahtani, an integral part of Finsbury Investment has been the prime target in this campaign.

However, this victory of the Ventriglias will be short lived as the High Court of Zambia has issued ‘an order for committal to prison’. Attached below is the copy.