The Court of Appeal announced the final results on Portland Cement Zambia on 31st January 2019. This judge was given around 10 months after the case was approached. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist with numerous successful business ventures in Zambia. Some of his top companies are Finsbury Investments, Mahtani Group of Companies and Finance Bank Zambia. He is also the owner of Zambezi Portland Cement for which he registered the case at the Lusaka High Court. After Lusaka High Court failed to provide right judgement for Dr. Rajan Mahtani, the Court of Appeal was approached. The Court of Appeal announced its final decision on 31st January 2019. According to this decision, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. On the other hand, the Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited is the minority shareholder with only 42 percent shares. As per this shareholding pattern, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the factory. This decision aligns with the original shareholding pattern which was established in the year 2007. By giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from Lusaka High Court judge.
With respect to forgery allegations, all such allegations were discarded by the Court of Appeal judge. The judge confirmed that the process of mechanically placing signatures was a common business practice at Zambezi Portland Cement. It was also found that critical member of the Ventriglias family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice when conducting business for the factory. As a result, all such allegations were considered invalid and were dismissed. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal has given a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement for share regularization and sale selling process. All parties are expected to comply within the process.