The Court of Appeal has finally confirmed that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement. The decision came at long last, after more a decade long wait from Dr. Rajan Mahtani and his team of dedicated lawyers. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder with 58 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement. On the other hand, the Ventriglias owned 42 percent shares at the factory. As per this decision, Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This decision from the Court of Appeal judge effectively reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court judge which said that the Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This judgement from the Court of Appeal judge came nine months after the Lusaka High Court judge announced its controversial decision. Furthermore, the judge from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement despite lack of evidences.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal dismissed all allegations of forgery by confirming that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common procedure within Zambezi Portland Cement and even members of the Ventriglia family including Claudio Ventriglia engaged in similar practice. As such, the forgery allegations were considered invalid. The Court of Appeal has also given a timeline of three months from the judgement date during which all parties are required to complete the share regularization process as per the judgement from the Court of Appeal.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal dismissed all allegations of forgery by confirming that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common procedure within Zambezi Portland Cement and even members of the Ventriglia family including Claudio Ventriglia engaged in similar practice. As such, the forgery allegations were considered invalid. The Court of Appeal has also given a timeline of three months from the judgement date during which all parties are required to complete the share regularization process as per the judgement from the Court of Appeal.