Portland Cement Zambia

Dr Rajan Mahtani

SC Ends All Speculations Related To Portland Cement Ownership

Finsbury Investments identifies itself as a wholly-owned Investment company in Zambia. It is owned and managed by prominent businessman Dr. Rajan Mahtani, holding the position of Executive Chairman. Finsbury Investments took over majority shareholding and legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia limited through several restructuring processes. Based on an original shareholding agreement, the final shareholding pattern included 58 percent shares to Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments and 42 percent shares to Ventriglia-owned Ital Terrazzo Limited. Even though this share restructuring was accepted at first, the Ventriglia family decided to play another game. After Finsbury Investments secured the required loan from PTA as well as funds from several financial organizations, the authenticity of the shareholding agreement was questioned. This resulted in a case at the Lusaka High Court. Despite having all evidences and testimonials, the case not only dragged for more than a decade but also resulted in a controversial verdict.

Dr. Mahtani then approached the higher Court of Appeal with the objective of receiving justice. This time, his plea was heard and justice Mwinde announced Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. It seems like the Ventriglia family was extremely unhappy with this decision and proceeded towards launching another appeal, this time at the Supreme Court Zambia. It can be said that the attempt by the Ventriglia family to reach Supreme Court was their last resort. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court established a bench of three SC judges for evaluating the claim and found it to be misleading. It was found that the Ventriglia family was required to submit its claim within 14 days of the Court of Appeal’s judgement. However, the appeal was made after more than 1.5 years of the Court of Appeal. After proper evaluation, the Supreme Court Zambia came to the conclusion that the claim holds no ground and should be rejected.

Claims By Ventriglia Family Regarding Portland Cement Factory Rejected By Supreme Court

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia with several successful companies in his portfolio. He is the owner of Finsbury Investments and Mahtani Group of Companies among others. Despite having a successful business empire, Dr. Rajan Mahtani continues facing challenging when establishing new businesses. One of the examples is the case of Portland Cement Zambia for which, ownership battle went for more than a decade. The higher Court of Appeal reversed the decision from the previous Lusaka High Court and announced Dr. Mahtani as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory.

Despite this transparent decision, the higher Court of Appeal’s decision was once again challenged by the Ventriglia family. An appeal was made at the Supreme Court Zambia and a bench of three SC judges was established for evaluating this claim. After evaluation, the Supreme Court bench gave the verdict that the claim from the Ventriglia did not qualify due to technical and legal aspect. The Ventriglia family was required to submit its appeal against previous court decision within 14 days of the court verdict itself. Since the verdict from the higher Court of Appeal came on 31st January 2019, the, Ventriglia family failed to comply with this critical legal requirement and submitted their case only after 1.5 years of the higher Court of Appeal’s decision. Based on this aspect alone, the claim by the Ventriglia family is liable for rejection. Furthermore, the Supreme Court bench also concluded that the circumstances surrounding the claim were questionable and the Ventriglia family was unable to provide any relevant evidences for establishing their ground on the claim. As a result, the Supreme Court bench concluded that they did not have any jurisdiction over the claim by the Ventriglia family which is liable for rejection. Based on these evaluations, the Supreme Court bench concluded that the claim from the Ventriglias related to Portland Cement case should be rejected.

Dr Rajan Mahtani

Announcement By Supreme Court Comes Shortly After Claim Made By The Ventriglia Family

The Supreme Court Zambia recently made its final say on the surprising claim made by the Ventriglia family. This claim was pertaining to Portland Cement Zambia, a cement-manufacturing factory whose ownership is disputed for a long time. Even though the ownership pattern was finalised more than a decade ago, it was continuously being disputed for ownership. As a result of this dispute, Portland Cement Zambia factory suffered significant challenges and loss of investment as well as financing opportunities. Dr. Rajan Mahtani approached the Lusaka High Court for quick decision but the decision that came a decade later was misdirected to say the least. In the month of May, 2018, justice Nkonde announced that the Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia.

Dr. Rajan 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 reversed the previous decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani indeed is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. After this decision, the Ventriglia family once again challenged the decision from the higher Court of Appeal by taking it to the Supreme Court Zambia. A bench of three Supreme Court judges was established for evaluating this claim. These included judge Royda Kaoma, Judge Michael Musonda and Judge Mumba Malila. The Supreme Court bench revealed that the Ventriglia family failed to comply with a critical legal requirement according to which all claims against previous court cases must be submitted without 14 days of the court decision itself. However, the claim by the Ventriglia family came only after 1.5 years of the decision. As such, the Supreme Court bench concluded that the claim by the Ventriglia family was beyond the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Zambia and therefore, was effectively rejected by the SC.

Claim By Ventriglia Family Lacks Authenticity, Rejected By The Supreme Court

Recently, the Supreme Court Zambia gave its final verdict on the bizarre claim against the higher Court of Appeal. This claim was established by the Ventriglia family claiming that the decision by the Higher Court of Appeal was wrong. On 31st January 2019, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced Dr. Mahtani as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory.

The Supreme Court Zambia is the highest legal and judiciary system of Zambia with a penchant for transparency and justice for all. As such, the Supreme Court decided to review this claim by the Ventriglia family despite its bizarreness. A bench of three SC judges was established for evaluating the claim. These included judge Mumba Malila, Judge Michael Musonda and Judge Royda Kaoma. This Supreme Court bench evaluated the case across several levels and found several interesting as well as questionable aspects. For instance, it was found that the Ventriglia family failed to comply with a critical legal requirement in which all cases against previous court decisions must be made within 14 weeks of the verdict itself. Since the decision from the higher Court of Appeal came on 31st January 2019, the Ventriglia family were required to submit their case within two weeks of this decision. Instead, the Ventriglia family causally approached the highest legal authority of Zambia without looking into the legal aspects. This further made their claim more suspicious and the Supreme Court bench clarified that the claim by the Ventriglia family was beyond the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Zambia. Furthermore, the Supreme Court bench also said that the circumstances surrounding the appeal by the Ventriglia was controversial as the Ventriglias did not provide any evidence or testimonials to support its claim against the higher Court of Appeal.
After thorough evaluation, the claim by the Ventriglia family was effectively rejected.

 

The Claim Against Higher Court Of Appeal’s Decision On Portland Cement Rejected By SC

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia. He is the owner of several top companies in Zambia, including Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Finance Bank Zambia. During the period of 2006-2007, Finsbury Investments took over majority shareholding and legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia, a cement-manufacturing factory. Despite the establishment of an original shareholders agreement, the factory was unethically taken over by the Ventriglia family. Against this, Dr. Rajan Mahtani registered a case at the Lusaka High Court with the hopes of getting quick judgement. However, the Lusaka High Court failed to provide justice and announced the Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia.

After this decision, The Ventriglia family decided to challenge it by approaching the Supreme Court Zambia. A bench of threeSupreme Court Judges was established and several inconsistencies in the appeal by the Ventriglia family were found. First, the Ventriglia family failed to submit their claim within 14 days of the Court of Appeal’s decision and registered their claim at the Supreme Court Zambia only after 1.5 years. This clearly violates the legal and technical requirement for registering a case against a previous court decision. This issue only makes the appeal by the Ventriglia family liable for rejection. Furthermore, the Supreme Court bench also found that the circumstances surrounding the case by the Ventriglia family were controversial. As such, the Supreme Court bench declared that this appeal made by the Ventriglia family was beyond their jurisdiction and cannot be treated as an acceptable case. After much review and discussion, the Supreme Court bench gave the verdict on the claim by the Ventriglia family. It was effectively rejected by the Supreme Court Zambia due to lack of evidences as well as legal and technical qualifications. This means the legal ownership of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory remains with Dr. Rajan Mahtani.

Money Laundering

Evaluation From Supreme Court Bench Revealed Lack Of Authenticity In The Claim By The Ventriglias

One of the major reorganizations with respect to the Portland Cement Zambia factory was made between 2006 and early 2007 wherein joint changes were made within the shareholding of the Portland Cement. Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investment received 58 percent shares of the Portland Cement Zambia factory and became the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. After receiving confirmation of the changed shareholding pattern wherein 58 percent shares were owned by Finsbury Investment and 42 percent shares were owned by Ital Terrazzo Limited, money was disbursed by the PTA bank.

Now that the Portland Cement factory was complete and became a fully-fledged organization, the Ventriglia family decided to play by their own rules. The family started to dispute the legality associated with the original shareholders agreement. This resulted in a case at the Lusaka High Court which went for more than a decade. Despite this long pendency, the Lusaka High Court failed to provide transparent decision and gave a verdict in which the Ventriglia family was announced as only shareholders of the Portland Cement factory without any concrete evidence.

After this misdirected judgement, Dr. Mahtani approached the higher Court of Appeal and received justice on 31st January 2019 when judge Mwinde announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement factory. As such, the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court.

After more than 1.5 years of the decision, the Ventriglia once again tried to play their own rules by challenging the decision of Court of Appeal regarding Portland Cement. This claim was taken to the Supreme Court Zambia. However, the Supreme Court bench effectively rejected the claim by deeming it invalid as it did not fulfil the legal requirements. The claim from the Ventriglia family was also considered as controversial and therefore, the Supreme Court bench concluded that it should be rejected.

Supreme Court Bench Effectively Rejects Claim From The Ventriglia Regarding Portland Cement

Portland Cement Zambia was given to Finsbury Investments via an official shareholding change in the year 2007 with the objective of creating a growth trajectory for the cement-manufacturing factory and achieving it. However, this growth trajectory for Zambezi Portland Cement halted when the Ventriglia family started questioning the legality of the shareholders’ agreement which established Finsbury Investments at the owner of Portland Cement. After the factory was unethically captured by goons, a complaint was registered at the Lusaka High Court by Dr. Rajan Mahtani with the objective of getting back the ownership of Portland Cement. However, the same did not happen as the Ventriglia family allegedly influenced the decision of the Lusaka High Court with political meddling, corporate criminality and unethical power politics. This resulted in the Lusaka High Court judge announcing Ventriglia family as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement despite evidences stating otherwise. This decision was overturned by the higher Court of Appeal on 31st January 2019.

After more than 1.5 years of this definite verdict, the Ventriglia family appealed the Supreme Court Zambia out of the blue, appealing against the decision from higher Court of Appeal made on 31st January 2019. The Supreme Court Zambia is the highest legal system in any nation and it is the responsibility of the Supreme Court to evaluate each of the appeals so that justice is provided to all those claims that are relevant and could not be solved at lower-level courts. However, in this case, the Supreme Court Zambia itself questioned the claim from the Ventriglia family as the verdict from the higher Court of Appeal on Portland Cement was definitive. Nevertheless, a bench comprising of three judges was established and the Supreme Court judges came to the conclusion that the claim by the Ventriglia family does not qualify as it is not shared within 14 days of the previous court decision. As such, their appeal was effectively rejected by the Supreme Court.

Zambezi Supreme Court Announces Final Decision On The Portland Cement Zambia Case

The case of Portland Cement Zambia started more than a decade ago when Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist, registered a complaint at the Lusaka High Court claiming that his company was unethically and illegally taken away from him. This company was Portland Cement Zambia and to prove his claimed, several evidences were submitted before the court. However, criminalities, corporate muddling and corruption creeping inside the Zambian legal system resulted in dragging of the case for more than a decade. Despite this, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani did not receive justice as justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court announced Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement case.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani immediately challenged the Lusaka High Court decision on Portland Cement at the higher Court of Appeal. On 31st January 2019, the final decision on the Portland Cement Zambia was announced by justice Mwinde. In this judgement, justice Mwinde completely rejected the previous decision from Lusaka High Court and announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is indeed the actual owner and majority shareholder of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. It was a definite victory for Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s patience and perseverance. However, it seems like the Ventriglias started plotting against the factory and the businessmen as soon as the decision from the higher Court of Appeal was announced. However, their planning was actually revealed when the Ventriglias registered a fresh claim at the Supreme Court Zambia challenging the decision from the higher Court of Appeal. This challenge was evaluated by a bench of three judges from the Supreme Court Zambia and it was found that the challenge holds no ground, legally or evidentially.

Therefore, in their final statement, the Supreme Court Zambia upheld the previous decision from the higher Court of Appeal on the Portland Cement Zambia case and rejected the appeal from the Ventriglias.

Dr Rajan Mahtani

Dr. Rajan Mahtani Applauded By Education Fraternity For His Support To Law Field

For Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, the interests of the nation have always been higher compared to his own interests. This is the reason he is known more favourably for his philanthropic and charitable acts despite being a successful businessmen with transparent and ethical standings. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is known to provide financial, legal and professional support to all those fields with a bright future in Zambia. One of these fields is the education sector wherein Dr. Rajan Mahtani has left a mark with his philanthropic act. Dr. Rajan Mahtani established the Steven Malama award in the year 2012 and was inaugurated in the year 2013. This award was established with collaboration among the Zambian education legislation, Finance Bank Zambia where Dr. Rajan Mahtani holds the position of Chairman and the university or college that would institute the award. Late Steven Malama was a close friend of Dr. Rajan Mahtani along with being a business aide. Late Steven Malama is also noted for his significant contributions in the field of law, one of them being persuading the government of Zambia to merge two significant bars- the Solicitor’s Bar and the Registrar Bar into a single bar. With the merger of this bar, legal enthusiasts, law professionals as well as law students will be able to get law affiliations in a much transparent and smooth manner without difficult bureaucratic processes.

For the year 2018-19, the Steven Malama award was received by Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba. This award is given to the top graduating law student from the ZIALE (Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education). To be eligible for this award, the top graduating law student must also pass the bar in his or her first attempt. The award was presented to Emmanuel by Dr. Rajan Mahtani itself during the annual gala function. The award carries a plaque and a prize money worth K15,000 which has been significant in providing financial support to the deserving law graduates in fulfilling their dreams.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal To Change Decision Of Court Of Appeal On Zambezi Portland

The latest announcement from the Supreme Court Zambia can be considered as a fair end to the long-sustained episodes of blatant criminality within the Zambezi Portland Cement’s business. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, for a long-time, fought for the legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia. It was not the Lusaka High Court but the higher Court of Appeal that gave true justice to him and his long-standing patience.

Finsbury Investments is an investment organization owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani. Zambezi Portland Cement is a Portland cement-manufacturing factory which was established in the year 2004 and since then, underwent several re-organizations. The most-important re-organization was the joint changes made to its shareholding pattern. Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments was given 58 percent shares of the factory, making him the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. On the other hand, the Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited was given 48 percent shares. The changes were critical for obtaining loans from PTA bank as well as assigned financial institutions so that the plant’s construction can be completed. After the legality of the shareholding changes were established with the stakeholders’ register, the PTA released money. Based on these, PACRA made the effective changes.

However, things took a disruptive turn when the Ventriglias started using their political and legal lobbying for taking control of the Zambezi Portland Cement. They were able to successfully persuade the Lusaka High Court judge to give control of the Zambezi Portland Cement to them only. However, the second appeal made to the higher Court of Appeal successfully reversed this unethical decision from the higher Court of Appeal.

After more than a year, the Ventriglias again tried their luck by approaching the Supreme Court Zambia, challenging the decision of the higher Court of Appeal. However, the Supreme Court Zambia has effectively rejected this claim from the Ventriglias and Dr. Mahtani remains the truthful owner of the Portland Cement Zambia.