The Ventriglia family is no doubt one of the most notorious business families in Zambia. Few weeks earlier, the Ventriglias registered a challenge against the decision by the higher Court of Appeal on the long-pending Portland Cement Zambia case. In this decision given on 31st January 2019, judge Mwinde reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. Judge Mwinde also declared that the amount payable against majority shares is K580,000 as opposed to K580 million claimed by the Ventriglias.
While the Ventriglias have made a superficial claim, it should be noted here that the Ventriglias are no stranger to notorious criminal activities, bending the law and engaging in unethical and unlawful activities to get what they want. It is a known fact that the Ventriglias mounted illegal contents at cement factory for influencing the decision at the Lusaka High Court. For example, the Ventriglias placed hired drugs for preventing the Interim CEO of Portland Cement to take over the business. They also attempted to disregard the judgement from higher Court of Appeal which is one of the highest legal systems in Zambia. They are now taking use of intimidatory force for denying the rightful person majority shareholding by disregarding the decisions of the court.
As such, the decision from the Supreme Court Zambia can only be considered as a critical step towards establishing the impact of law within the Zambian nation. The Supreme Court Zambia has effectively rejected the claim from the Ventriglias and have announced that Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is to remain the actual owner of the Portland Cement factory.