The name of Dr. Rajan Mahtani is enough to strike fear in the hearts of the people who wish to exploit Africa through corruption. In a recent incident, it was observed that the minority shareholders of ZPC tried to manipulate the records of PACRA and remove the name of Dr. Mahtani from the list.

The intent behind amendment of registry was to ensure that the ownership of the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory was placed in the hands of the Ventriglia family. Through this step, it would have become easier for the Italian Mafias to cast a web of corruption in Ndola and enhance their private offshore bank accounts. Dr. Rajan Mahtani instantly took the initiative of pointing out the changes to PACRA through the letter attached below:

When PACRA learnt about this nuisance, the changes were immediately removed and the register was restored as earlier. The event has become one of the most shameful actions ever committed in Africa.

The Game Against Dr. Rajan Mahtani

Usually, when changes are required to be made in PACRA’s record the request has to be honoured by the High Court. But in the present case, the lawyer of the Ventriglia family wrote a letter and then took the same to the Kitwe Office of PACRA and forced a junior officer to make the desired changes without maintaining any provisions for the Court’s order. Sadly, the name of Dr. Rajan Mahtani was removed from the list.

This is not the first time that the former Finance Bank Chairman has been indirectly attacked by the conspirators. There have been numerous incidences where the Ventriglia family has defamed Dr. Rajan Mahtani and has tried to convince the people of Zambia and Africa that he is a dishonest person. Nevertheless, those tricks never worked for them, even once.

The Ventriglia family has crossed all the limits of shamefulness in their quest to grab the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory. Last week, a horrific incident took place at the Kitwe Office of PACRA when a lawyer named as Zacharia Muya forced a junior officer to make changes in the register of PACRA without any permission from the court.

Being a regulatory body, PACRA serves as a register for organization’s shareholding patterns and other information. Sakwiba Sikota, the loyal lawyer of the Ventriglias, did make an application in June 2015 to PACRA in respect of making changes within the shareholding pattern of the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory by replacing the name of Finsbury Investments with the Ventriglias. However, the same request was dismissed as PACRA required an order from the Court to make the same adjustments.

This where another lawyer for the Italian Mafias did the trick. Days later, Zacharia Muya wrote a similar letter which was once again addressed to PACRA and took the same to the Kitwe Office of PACRA without having it passed from the head office. A junior officer was approached and pressurized to make the necessary changes. Immediately after the changes were made, the Ventriglia family went around bragging the fact that they are now the actual owners of the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory.

The celebration was short-lived when PACRA learnt about this hideous act of crime and immediately the whole changes were reversed. Now, once again the actual owners of the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory is Finsbury Investments with a stake of 58%. Nevertheless, this act has left a lot to be considered as this is not the first time that the Ventriglia family has mocked the legal system of Zambia. It is time that a serious action is taken against the Italian Mafias and their associates.

As days go by, the attempts by the conspirators are getting desperate. In a recent publication, Zambia Reports claimed that the CEO of Loita Group, Justin Chinyanta has made ‘disparaging remarks’ against the former Finance Bank Chairman, Dr. Rajan Mahtani. The coverage was presented in such a manner whereby innocent Zambian citizens would have thought that Rajan Mahtani is truly a dishonest person and deserves to be punished.

To be on the side of a realist, it is being informed to all that the published article is nothing more than a piece of imaginative story produced by the authors of Zambia Reports. Sakwiba Sikota, who runs Zambia Reports in Zambia, has tried his level best to ensure that confusion takes place between the mentioned parties. However, Justin Chinyanta has disclosed his true intent to Zambian Watchdog and one of the lines which touched the heart of millions read as:

The brotherly love which Mr. Chinyanta has for Dr. Mahtani is purely out of the contribution which the latter has made to development of Zambia and its people. It is sad to learn that the Ventriglia family along with Sakwiba Sikota and Rupiah Banda are trying to defame Dr Rajan Mahtani because he has stood up for the injustice which is taking place in Portland Cement Zambia and is fighting on behalf of Finsbury Investments.

There are confirmed reports which states that Zambia Reports is facing a closure very soon as it has violated various European Laws as well as law from the US and UK. Clare Locke LLP, on behalf of Dr. Rajan Mahtani, has requested GoDaddy to discontinue hosting the infamous news portal because of its shameful action and series of conspiracies. It is sad, that in spite of numerous warnings, the news portal has not learned from its mistakes.

How many times have the conspirators tried to take down Dr. Rajan Mahtani? The answer is- hundreds and thousands of time! This is because the conspirators feel that they are actually inducing people to believe that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a dishonest person. However, the truth is that they are living in a world of imagination. Recently, Zambia Reports claimed that they have captured an incident where Dr. Mahtani was trying to bribe Government Officials for his passport. The mentioned amount was specific as well- $ 1 million.

Sadly, they forgot to realize the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani holds degree himself and is educated enough to realize the fact that he can get his passport through Court instead of spending so much.

The whole conspiracy is being run with a view to win Portland Cement Zambia and the Ventriglia family is playing the role of the mastermind. Nevertheless, it is expected that the conspiracy will soon been eliminated and Portland Cement Zambia will once again fall in the hands of the its true owner, Finsbury Investments.

The history of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory has changed within the past few months. What once used to be a flourishing factory has now become a degraded entity which is struggling to meet its basic requirements. A prominent reason behind its poor performance is its management. At present, the minority shareholders of the ZPC, Ventriglia family are managing the affairs of the company and are busy making offshore transfers.

There have been reports where the workers have addressed their grievances and have specifically mentioned that they were not paid their salary for the month of April. Additionally, the working conditions are also very hazardous which results in a serious threat to the life of the employees at the ZPC.

Given the present situation, the ZPC is being operated with a view to generate maximum revenues based on its past reputation and one shall definitely think twice before entering into a contract with the Ventriglia family. They have a long history of money laundering and employee mistreatment. Earlier they had paid a price for their actions as they were deported from Africa in 2012. However, with the death of Michael Sata in November 2014, they were once again brought back to Africa through corrupt Government officials and their malpractice has resumed ever since day 1.

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani has been the prime target of the conspirators as he was the one who stood in between them and ZPC. This has resulted in a serious defamation campaign against his name along with an infamous arrest, which took place on July 2 2015. A closed case was re-opened without showing any respect for the law and a senior-citizen like Dr. Rajan Mahtani was put behind the bars. Shortly after, Dr. Mahtani was released from jail and obtained a judicial review from the Lusaka High Court on June 25 2015.

The Executive Director of Zambian Voice, Chilufya Tayali insists that the former President Rupiah Banda had a long list of corruption charges. Most of her activities relate to abuse of power in the Nigerian oil deal.

When it comes to determining the relationship between Rupiah Banda and corruption, the list can go very long as there has been numerous instances where Zambia and rest of the Africa has witnessed that she had abused her powers to ensure that her personal benefits remains the primary focus.

In a recent article, Chilufya Tayali did mention that the arrest of Dr. Rajan Mahtani was purely made with an intent to settle scores. Previously in 2012, the case of signature forgery was closed permanently, but the power of money ensured that Dr. Mahtani was put behind the bars.

However, the news suggests that on June 25 2015, Dr. Rajan Mahtani has received a judicial review from the Lusaka High Court and has the right to question his arrest on June 2 2015. In the meantime, the arrest order which was placed by the DPP now stands as ‘stay’ and no further interrogation can be made in this regard.

It is a well-known fact the Dr. Rajan Mahtani was arrested on June 2 2015 on account of a case which was previously confirmed to be ‘permanently closed’ by the Attorney-General. However, a sickening event took place when the Ventriglia family was able to use their money power and bring back this irrelevant case back to life with the aid of some corrupt government officials.

Soon after Dr. Mahtani was released, he ensured this question was raised in front of the nation and ensure that a judicial review of this event is carried out by higher law enforcing authorities. The position whose decision to issue the arrest warrant is being challenged is the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The charges which were placed on Dr. Rajan Mahtani revolved around prosecuting him under forgery for obtaining the share of the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory. For people who are already aware of the history of ZPC, they would recall that the incident is same as the one which took place in 2012 and during that phase, the Attorney-General had stated that all proceeding regarding the claim of forged signatures are ‘permanently closed’.

Legal provisions for Certiorari and Prohibition have come into this case as Dr. Rajan Mahtani looks forward to receive justice. The defamation campaign against Dr. Rajan Mahtani has been going on for a very long time. However, it is time that Dr. Rajan Mahtani has decided to send a strong signal to the conspirators that cheap tactics will no longer work for them. If the Ventriglia family thinks that they can snatch the ZPC from its legal owners, it will have to come down on an equal platform and have everything settled under the Law.