Dr. Mahtani and Finance bank

Dr Rajan Mahtani

Forbes Business Awards Presented Along With Fin Conference

Forbes is among the biggest brands within business magazines. Forbes in partnership with FIN (Foreign Investment Limited) recently concluded the Forbes-FIN roundtable conference on philanthropy and leadership as well as the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist, was the only businessman from Zambia to be invited into the leadership and roundtable conference. Dr. Rajan Mahtani was invited as a honorary speaker and spoke about the significance of political leadership in healthcare.

Apart from the philanthropy and leadership conference, Forbes event was also well-known and highly anticipated for the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards. The Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards is an annual award ceremony which recognizes and celebrates leading lights in the philanthropic and leadership arena. The award ceremony is one of the most regarded and respected and invites recipients from across Africa. Dr. Rajan Mahtani, apart from being invited as a honorary speaker in the event, was also conferred with one of the Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ awards. Forbes recognized the contributions of Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani in the field of banking and economy. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani was conferred with the Forbes ‘Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year’ 2021 award for his contributions in the banking sector and practically redefining it. The Forbes ‘Best of Africa’ award is a prestigious award and highly anticipated among businessmen and visionaries. The award is presented to those with significant contributions in philanthropic and leadership values and fields. Furthermore, the awards are highly regarded due to its association with Forbes as their developer. Along with this, the selection of the recipients is highly rigorous as they are selected after several verifications and background checks as well as interviews to understand their philosophies on leadership and philanthropy.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, apart from his business contributions, is also known for his philanthropic and charitable contributions. Some of these contributions include Prison Fellowship Zambia and Stephen Malama award and scholarship for top law graduates in Zambia.

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.

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’s win at Court of Appeal

2020 Brings Some Good News For Dr. Rajan Mahtani, Retains Ownership Of Portland Cement

The year 2020 has not been great. Perhaps, it can be said that the year has been the worst in the past 100 years due to the ongoing global pandemic that has not only claimed millions of life but has brought the global economy to a standstill. Almost every nation across this globe has suffered and Zambia could not escape this pandemic. While the blow has not been as severe as some of the more developed nations, it still resulted in significant loss of life and life savings for many. In terms of businesses too, many companies suffered due to economic volatility and loss of international trade. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia with several successful businesses such as Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Portland Cement Zambia. Even he faced issues due to this global pandemic which resulted in loss of revenues and profitability for his organizations and ventures.

However, one of the positive aspects which happened to Dr. Rajan Mahtani during the later part of the year was a surprise move from his arch enemies the Ventriglias. It is a known fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani, who now owns the Portland Cement Zambia factory, fought for the legal ownership of the factory for more than a decade. First it was Lusaka High Court given a misdirected decision, then higher Court of Appeal reversing the decision from the higher Court of Appeal and giving majority shareholding and legal ownership to Dr. Rajan Mahtani. After more than a year of the Court of Appeal decision, the Ventriglias approached the Supreme Court with a new claim challenging the Court of Appeal’s decision. However, the Supreme Court Zambia effectively rejected this appeal as according to law any appeal against a previous court decision must be made within 14 days of the judgement. Since the Ventriglias were more than a year late, the Supreme Court Zambia rejected their appeal and announced that the factory belongs to Dr. Rajan Mahtani only.

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 Gives Fitting Reply To Unethical And False Rumours In A Social Media Post

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is one of the best businessmen in Zambia. His organizations like Finsbury Investments, Mahtani Group of Companies and Finance Bank Zambia have all arrived at top places in their particular ventures. In any case, there is one region where Dr. Rajan Mahtani has battled constantly. This territory is working with the administration of Zambia. Regardless of Zambia’s ongoing advancement, the nation is defaced with defilement and deceptive practices with pay off and coercion turning into a typical practice even across top government and lawful organizations. This makes it amazingly hard for genuine and ethical businessmen like Dr. Rajan Mahtani to endure and flourish. It tends to be said that Dr. Rajan Mahtani stays one of only a handful businessmen in Zambia who has kept a perfect picture and his strategic approaches are as straightforward as it could be.

At the same time, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is never the one to give-in to unethical practices or false rumours. Recently, a social media post was shared by Miriam Mwanawasa, daughter of the ex-President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa. It was a Facebook post in which Miriam Mwanawasa claimed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani wanted to inherit the farmland at Masaiti district owned by the Mwanawasa family. This was an extremely controversial claim and Dr. Rajan Mahtani released a press statement to expose this fake claim. In this press release, Dr. Rajan Mahtani clarified that he never made such intentions of taking away the farmland and his friendship with the late Ex-President of Zambia was extremely transparent and ethical. Furthermore, he also highlighted the fact that the Facebook post was devoid of any evidences or testimonials and therefore, was claimed as misdirected, ludicrous and malicious. Dr. Rajan Mahtani further said that he will be taking actions against this unethical post which aimed towards damaging the reputation of Dr. Mahtani.

Dr. Rajan Mahtani

Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s Philanthropic Work Praiseworthy, News Article Reveals Details

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is one of the most respected and celebrated businessmen in Zambia. His contributions extend not only in successful business ventures and providing opportunities for FDIs in Zambia, but also across philanthropic and charitable activities. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is known for his several volunteering activities and philanthropic contributions for the oppressed and less privileged sections of the society. He is also known to promote education and work towards providing opportunities for deserving students and candidates for their dedication and passion. A fine example of this philanthropic activities was the Steven Malama award. This award was established by Finance Bank Zambia, whose Chairman is Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. The award was created in the year 2013 in honour of Late Steven Malama, a noted lawyer in Zambia. This award is given on an annual basis to the best graduating candidate from the ZIALE (Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education), who has successfully passed the Bar in their first attempt. Thus, the award is an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of education for the economic and social development of the nation.

The award for the year 2018-19 was received by Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba, who was the best law graduate cracking the Bar. After receiving this prestigious award, Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba gave a praiseworthy and thankful appreciation to Dr. Rajan Mahtani in the form of news article at the Daily Mail. In this news article, the deserving candidate thanked Dr. Rajan Mahtani and Finance Bank Zambia for the significant opportunity and improving the motivation of the future classes to study hard. The award is also a means to attract future generations and young students to pursue the legal career as lawyers and legal counsellors hold significant position within the society. Apart from a plaque and a certificate, the award also gives an amount of K15,000 to the graduating candidate.

Steven Malama Award Established For Legal Graduates From Ziale

Dr Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani via his company Finance Bank Zambia established the Steven Malama award in the year 2012. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is known for his many contributions to the Zambian society, economy and its people. The institution of this award is one of them. The award was created in honour of late Steven Malama, a distinct legal professional in Zambia, a visionary and role model for many. Since its establishment and inauguration in 2013, the award has been a prestigious event within legal educational fraternity of Zambia. The award is presented every year to the top graduating student from ZIALE (Zambian Institute of Advanced Legal Education). To be eligible for this award, the top performing student must also pass the bar in their first attempt.

Every year, the award is presented to the deserving student along with a plaque and a prize money worth K15,000. This prize money has provided significant financial support to the deserving students in many ways, including advanced skill training, higher education, advanced courses as well as admission to professional programs. The Steven Malama award also raises awareness of the significant contributions from Steven Malama, a visionary, bar luminary with several achievements under his belt. Along with other members of the legal fraternity, Steven Malama’s contributions were instrumental in merger of distinct legal bars in Zambia; Barristers & Solicitors Bar into one single and more established bar. The outcome was that legal professionals were able to affiliate with the merged bar and provide their services without challenges and shortcomings.

The award for the year 2018-19 was received by Emmanuel Bwalya Kaluba who penned down a heartful message to Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, later published in the ‘readers Forum’ of Daily Mail. In this article, Emmanuel thanked Dr. Mahtani and praised for his significant contributions towards the development and awareness of legal profession in Zambia.

Money Laundering

Finsbury Investment Claims Unethical Manipulation Of Shares, Reaches Lusaka High Court

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman in Zambia with numerous successful businesses such as Mahtani Group of Companies, Finsbury Investments and Finance Bank Zambia. Dr. Rajan Mahtani has made a reputation of himself with his authentic and transparent business practices. Recently, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments sued the ESATDB (Eastern & Southern African Trade and Development Bank). The compliant was registered at the Lusaka High Court and it was claimed that Finsbury Investments was wrongly removed as a major shareholder at the Hotellier Limited. This has resulted in significant financial and reputational damage and Finsbury Investments have demanded justice for this unethical conspiracy against the firm.

In the principle registration, Finsbury Investments filed that the ESATDB allowed Ody’S or OWL (Ody’s Works Limited) to alter share capital associated with Hotellier. Ody’s then issued new shares which were contrary to the shared pledged to the Finsbury Investments and officially written under the company’s name. Further statement from the defendant indicated that in the year 2012, the bank in a unilateral manner, issued an official letter which guaranteed that the shares from the company had been properly discharged. However, this letter was released without establishing any application process and without intimating the plaintiff. Therefore, it can be said that the letter was issued with the objective of aiding Ody’s opposition of the compliant raised by Finsbury Investments.

Finsbury Investments further stated that due to the wrongful dilution of the shareholding pattern, the company suffered huge financial and reputational loss. As a result of this unethical takeover of the shareholding of the Radisson Blue Hotel, Finsbury Investments suffered numerous loss not only in current scenario but risks to the future of the company. The dividends lost due to this unethical practice were close to USD 30 million, a loss of which halted significant projects for Finsbury Investments. As such, Finsbury Investments has launched an official complaint against this issue with the expectations of quick judgement.

Zambezi Portland Cement

Dr. Mahtani’s Next Challenge After Winning Portland Cement Case Is To Revive The Factory

The final verdict on the long-pending Portland Cement case is out. This final and definitive verdict came from higher Court of Appeal on 31st January 2019 after nine months of gruelling case proceedings at the court. Unlike the previous court, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal made an extremely transparent decision system wherein all evidences, testimonials and other factual details were evaluated in a transparent manner. During this decision, the evidences, testimonials and other details which helped in arriving at the decision were shared to the media and the public.

It was found that Dr. Rajan Mahtani gave Portland Cement Zambia limited an amount of one billion Kwacha via his company Finsbury Investments, equivalent to USD 250,000. This amount was shared officially for covering the share capital value of the ZPC shares which Dr. Rajan Mahtani took over. The second major evidence was the original Shareholders’ Agreement which was established on 26th February 2007, around two years after the initial exchange between Dr. Rajan Mahtani and Portland Cement Zambia limited. As per the details found in the agreement, page number 663 clearly established the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani made the payment for taking over 58 percent shares of the Portland Cement Zambia factory and he is further not liable for any more payments associated with the case.

Several unethical and improper claims were also thrashed by the higher Court of Appeal judge. For instance, the claim of forgery were discarded as it was found that the process of electronically affixing signatures was a common practice at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. It was also found that critical member of the Ventriglia family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice and as a result, all forgery related allegations were discarded. While the judgement did take significant time, it was truthful and transparent at the end. While giving the final judgement, justice Mwinde also said that the judge below him was wrong in not giving Dr. Mahtani the true justice which he deserved.