Finance bank board dissolved
According to Mwanza, the decision by the board to retire itself was made on 3rd March 2010, in order to facilitate the bank’s restructuring process.
Mwanza claims that following the restructuring of the shareholding in Finance Bank Zambia Limited,the constitution of the Board will consequently change to suit the new shareholding structure.
But the Watchdog is fully imformed that Credit Siusse, the new owners of the bank do not want the current board and that Jacob Mwanza himself will be replaced.
The board of directors is listed here: http://www.financebank.co.zm/bod.htm
Meanwhile, police sources have informed the Watchdog that investigations into money laundering claims involving former owner of the bank Rajan Mahtani has intesfied.
Sources say some ghost accounts have so far been unearthed at the bank.
Mahtani fled the country two before the police were to summon him for questioning.
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ZWD so what is the outcome of the court case against these criminals? I hear Zaheeda has been given quite a few years and so has Mahtani!!!!!!!!Let us know!!!!!!!!!!
ZAMBIA WATCH TODAY IS D DAY FOR MAHTANI’S INDIAN LAWYER ZAHEEDA ESSA & CO PLEASE MAKE SURE ZAMBIA WATCH IOS AT THE FOREFRONT IN BREAKING NEWS REPORTING
tell it like it is: it is clear that it is Mahtani or Zaheeda writing , well I take this opportunity to remind every one that on the 9th of March Zaheeda and company shall be in court facing chargers of money loundering, illegal transfer of shares, extorsion and a lot more…..I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes!!!!!!!!!!
AND FOR EVERYBODY THIS IS NOT A CIVIL CASE BUT A CRIMINAL ONE!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
tell it like it is: I like that I think he will find a husband, Indians are most wanted these days in zambian prisons!!!!!!!!!!
And whilst Mahtani rots in a Zambian Prison lets hope he finds himself a husband!
Mamba please educate this Mogan Mahtani he seems not to know this elementary fact maybe he is Mahtani or Miss Zaheeda Essa
pipo transfering shares is a civil matter if the seller and the buyer have agreed ,it becomes a criminal when the supposed buyer MAHTANI transfers the shares of Zambezi Portland Cement without informing the supposed seller Italians.This in any country in the world is called “FRAUD” or “THEFT OF SHARES” so Mahtani is to be considered a criminal and for this he must face the music in the Zambian prisons!!!!!!!!!
Morgan
Of every thing you have said I would agree with what you say about DEC.
But I would also say only people who are insecure and come from uneducated backgrounds – rags to riches if you like – see the need to flout how educated or important they are.
Zambia is blessed with excellant universities and thousands upon thousands of graduates – renown all over the world. So step down from your high pedestal. The irony about what you say about former President Chiluba is that were he allowed to stand again the people of Zambia would elect him again. Chiluba is here to stay.
To my new friend ‘Tell it like it is’ -
You need to go back to school and get your law degree … you sir, are incorrect and it is not as elementary as you would claim. Maybe you might, while you are at it, explain to the audience why the DEC is invloved in all of this as the governments Drug Enforcement section. Maybe you are trying to imply that Mahtani is money laundering the profits of dope through a cement company?
You have yet to comments on my allegations set forth in the earlier post … why?
It is funny that when your acute arguments are tough to defend then the party making the comments is Mahtani … take a break and come back with something more substantial …unles you are the former or current and are using this forum to rile up the country to your way of thinking … perhaps Dr. Chiluba?
Why not go on record for the money in London, Mr. President?
Two can play this game … as it is all too elementary.
Grab your soapbox on this one. Moron!
Morgan or Mahtani: The secretaries and guards were locked up because they and others tried to stop DEC gaining access – locking doors etc – maybe they were destroying burning or shredding documents. Most innocent people report to the police to clear their names and not abscound to some foreign country. Its not about me knowing too much its about adding up 2 and 2 together for everything is elementary.
Morgan or Mahtani should I say. Illegal share transfer involves forging signatures on statutory documents, that is forgery and criminal NOT civil case as you claim. We are all educated you bigot.
To our friend Tell it like it is:
You seem to speak with some expertise as to the where abouts of Mahtani. How might you know so much, just because he is not here does not mean that he isn’t watching everything and making all of the necessary moves? Our DEC made the charges with him out of the Country!
Let’s review the question and maybe reverse the question. If the DEC is so darn smart, and they had a rock, solid case why would the DEC not have waited for Mahtani to be in Zambia to arrest him? They have all of the intel necessary to know this. They have all of the records from his passport agencies to know when he travels? Why did they DEC wait to have the raid when Mahtani was out of the country? The timeframe matched my allegation of conspiracy between the former and current President … does it not? We can ask more of these questions if we need to and, I believe we will have to ask those questions, but why are you not asking these question from your soapbox?
Frankly, why would Mahtani be here when he can do so much from afar, the charges are still waiting, why not be smart and wait for the proper time? He has apparently sent teams of lawyers to take care of his employees and their legal needs as, if you are watching so diligently, they are represented by the best Zambia has to offer. Maybe you can offer an explaination as to why a secretary and a guard have been arrested and charged. Minimum wage employees … new to their positions … being arrested to conspire to defraud shares of a no nothing cement plant? Does this make any form of logical sense to you?
Like I said in my last post … when I mentioned my credentials, it might have been you that I was speaking to about being the one that would have no clue as to what the credentials meant. Schooling and professional credentials mean that I have a brain, and not only a brain but one that actively thinks but thirty five years of experience watching every type of criminal activity that is known to mankind … this includes politicians and their silly games … they are by far the most unscrupulous. It is not my fault that as an educated person with experience at the highest levels of the monetary system, my view is extremely far. It might be easy to fool a simpleminded Zambian but not a Zambian that has been outside of the country with a level of view that even these politicians do not have. They must think that every Zambian is a simpleminded person. I would suggest that we all are not.
The credentails just means, in my case, that I have viewed many money laundering schemes in my life … and far larger than anything that could happens in Zambia. For your purposes, you yell money laundering but you probably couldn’t even begin explaining how this might have occured as it is apparent that you have share transfer combined with money laundering.
Let’s try it this way, you have a belief that somehow shares transfer has to do with monry laundering. For the record my dear fellow, share transfer in zambia is still a civil legal issue, not a criminal one, even if someone yells fraud including a government agency. It is civil fraud not criminal fraud. Money laundering is criminal. How do you claim the DEC has authority to govern over share transfer and a clearly civil matter regardless of the attempt to induce a fraud complaint? Use your head man !! Further, explain to all of us idiots with an education on your brilliance as to how 200 plus criminal charges came about over a share transfer complaint.
As to the money laundering. Let’s use our heads together here, as I can help you with this one as I have more experience with this than any one hundred Zambians you can put together!. Why would any one launder money here in Zambia especially Mahtani? If you say it a third world country I would smack you up side your your head for dumb comments! If Mahtani was to launder money he has all of the opportunity to do so in all of the other legal tax havens in the world … those haven are there to do so and have been structured to do so long ago by the world powers … otherwise they would not be there. If you were successful enough to have a need to use them, then even you could find one and use it legally. Yes, even you! In short, tax havens are legal. Money laundering is money laundering by virtue of an illegal or criminal activity on the front side of the money laundering activity i.e. drugs, weapons, or other illicit activity, which desires to have a monetary system receive the money and have the banks take something called “full bank responsibilty” for it meaning the bank has full knowledge of the source of the funds and the person owning the funds. If the illicit funds can make it into the monetary system they can be moved to anywhere in the world. If Mahtani was to do this, as you say from a top of your soapbox, with all of your expertise, maybe you could give us a summary of the amounts of the laundering scheme, how the laundering scheme was effectuated and for what reasons. Why would Mahtani place a scheme of this nature and have it come under scrunity? Some have suggested ‘ghost’ account. There are no such thing as ghost account at a bank… everything is accounted for … especially due to the banks responsibility in light of money laundering activities. With all of Mahtani’s reported wealth and worldwide acceptance why would he want to pull down a life work here in Zambia … maybe cement you say? You would be, and anyone else would be, an inexperienced, small minded fool to think so.
You see my friend money laundering is one of those crimes that a party can scream from the hills with a loud voice and his accusers can carry on for a very long time in a courtroom … thereby ruining a reputation and the fact it is in the courtroom means if there is smoke there must be a fire. It is sort of like saying ‘Mr. Tell it like it is, have you stopped beating you wife? If you say yes, you are guilty of past indulgences … if you say no, you are guilty of current indulgences … if you say I have never done that, then everyone thinks you are guilty of indulging but you are hiding it cause obviously nobody would accuse you of the if it weren’t true. So everyone gets to walk around thinking something has had to have happened because some one, like yourself, is standing on a soapbox at the top of the hill yelling ‘look for any bruises’.
You are apparently a smart man as you can string a sentence together. Sit back and review what I have said in my previous post … quit spewing like a child from a soapbox … tell me the facts of my previous post does not work and the facts are not true including the timing of yet more accusation against Mahtani and the clergy and the church. Tell me you have reviewed all of the accusations I put forth have no merit and why. Tell me why I should listen to your soapbox of purported truth.
This your assignment for your schooling and experience for I don’t need the exercise … I have been ther it and seen it.
This is what education and experience at the highest levels gets you regardless of what a less than credible government says in a third world country. Welcome to political corruption at it’s finest … AND THE EFFECT TO A MAGNIFICIENT NATION. Why not redirect your soapbox to those issues.
My bet is on Mahtani … there is more to sniffing out a rat out of a wood pile than most might think … just like our former and current Presidents have had a long time to think about this … I bet Mahtani and his people are taking their time to, as they say, bring the hammer down. I am sure that Mahtani knows Chiluba and his mentality very well … it probably will not take long regardsless of the show the government will put on for all of us. The finishline is short let’s see who wins …
Why would our current President provide immunity to Chiluba and not go after the hundred of millions that is locke dup in London Courts? Why do you not yor aggrievances for these issues? That money would feed many starving Zambians!
Morgan : AND under the law Mahtani is innocent until proven guilty so why is Mahtani not in Zambia proving that he is innocent after all Mahtani would have the oppurtunity to do this. Why?
Morgan. Alleged illegal share transfer if proven is fruadulent and as DEC has indicated could involve money laundering. Mahtani was Chairman of Finance Bank and a Company, Mahtani directly controlled Finsbury Investments owned a subtaintial shareholding in Finance Bank. The share certificates and other records that a company secretary is obliged to maintain under the Company have either been destroyed by Mahtani or on his orders, and Mahtani has fled Zambia.
Your crap yes crap about Priceton Degrees, MBA, European Banks ete mean nothing. Don”t assume that this gives you a right to be an expert. Simple fact is if Mahtani has not committed a crime why has he fled Zambia? A good employer would not want his employees to be harassed by DEC etc, Mahtani if innocent would be in Zambia today.
So Morgan go lick Mahtan’s ass but do not try to tell us that Mahtani is innocent.
To all bloggers here …
I am a very proud Zambian native, born and raised. I left Zambia on the urging of my mother, to be educated at a properly recognized University. In this case, I successfully received my undergraduate degree and MBA at Princeton University and, further, post graduate PhD at the Harvard. I have spent all of my life in the banking business … at all levels including retail, wholesale, investment, international, executive and Director. In the last 35 years, I have spent my life at the highest levels of the Western – European monetary system. I would include my numerous professional credentials but most might have difficulty believing a black Zambian would be able to accomplish so much and be appropriately credentialed to do so.
In my later years, I considered myself fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Dr. Rajan Mahtani. Yes, the good Dr. is a very highly regarded worldwide as a professional international banker, businessman, devote Christian and ethical, moral man. Outside of the small minded persons claiming they know all about Mahtani, his ill deeds, all of the theives in banking, in business and have a deep seated desire to actually opine about the inner workings of a bank including all of the all of the preposterous expert business opinions and conclusions written here, it might be good to know that only in Zambia is someone is going to mention ghosts accounts, illegal stock transfers, and all of the other supposed misdeeds … all for the unfortunate listening ears of the uneducated, unemployed, sick, starved and dying people of Zambia who have a vote.
When will the demoralizing, verbal diatribe stop. When will the reputation of good, hardworking people stop which would help make Zambia a wonderful place to live, work and raise families.
This is Zambia, my country. Yet, Zambia is one of the laughing stocks in the third world … why, we have the resources to be a very productive country with excellant governance but, due to a few on top elected people making moves the rest of the civilized world saw and eschewed hundreds of years ago, our citizens are being deprived of the blessings the rest of the world takes for granted.
If I may, let me provide one insight, even though someone will believe this is a false statement and say “not here, our politicians would never …”.
Consider this … a guy that is a former corrupt President, who is being held accountable by the international courts for pillaging the Nation of Zambia, makes friends with the current President of Zambia.
The current President needs votes to stay President in the upcoming election, in exchange for those votes from his region the current President grants the former President immunity for the theft of the Countries assets and anything else known or not known … which assets are locked down in foreign banks waiting for our Government to claim them … and a vicious shot at one of the most vehement voices for Zambia, that person being Dr. Rajan Mahtani, for the vengeance of the TRUTH and embarrassment Mahtani has brought forth about the former President, and with timing being everything, the current President goes out of the Country “on business”.
The newly immutized former President, whilst the current Preisdent is out of the Country, builds a new soapbox and spews his own brand of garbage and stirs up the political pot in the media so that everyone is concentrated on Finance Bank, Mahtani. Credit Suisse, and other garbage … excuse me … making comments on everything from the Mahtani, finance Bank, Credit Suisse, the Clergy, the church, other politicians and the mother next door to aunt of somebody important who spanked the dog two years ago which is contravention of somebody’s animal rights viewpoint.
With the Zambian people experiencing what looks like an Latin daytime television soap opera show (some have stated this is a political system meltdown)and all of the ignorant Zambians are at home watching television or listening to the radio while eating Bon Bons and soaking in all of the supposedly important news … excuse me, gossip … misinformation … misdirection … and outright lies from people that do not have a basis for which to speak except the media needs something interesting to report while the current President is out of town.
Then, after all of the damage is spewed and properly placed in the media, the newly immutized former President quietly leaves the country for “personal medical issues” as the current President quietly comes home from his important diplomatic junket claiming all sort of successes and looking Regal. It is amazing that the current President is totally clear of everything that has happened during his “diplomatic business trip” including the silencing of a significant voice of Mahtani, an extremely potent and privately outspoken voice of TRUTH for the Zambian people, the catholic church and all other oponents of the current administration.
I bet if you look through the President window at night you might see him sitting at his desk soaking in all of the mayhem in the street, while easily calculating his next set of political moves to gain more years in office.
Does this resemble the current situation? Kaos, manipulation, political mayhem, back door deals, desruction of highly credentailed persons in politics and business, the attacks on the clergy, the church, the good standing members of that church and the one item that everyone just loves to hear about … SEX?
Does it seem odd that everyone on the side of TRUTH is currently under the highest level criminal charges, scruntiny for supposed ethics violations of family members and who they might have had sex relations with.
Let’s take a look. From first hand knowledge and experience, I can state that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is extremely and highly regarded in the international community including ALL of the major world banks, the Federal Reserve, the World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, which entities bring numerous dollars to this Africian region due to Mahtani’s efforts. Mahtani is also regarded by numerous foriegn governments as a strong voice for Zambia and this region. He is a Havard Law Graduate, a chartered account and he uses all of those skill sets to shape highly successful companies most of which he commenced from nothing or acquired for nothing and if acquired, he acquired with the assistance of professional people having the ability to correctly analyze the the true calculated worth of the entity. More than likely, Mahtani viewed the companies as having national potential, then more than likelt than the members of the ill managed companiy at the point of acquisition.
Which might just bring us to the current cement company issue. Trust me when I tell you that Mahtani doesn’t need a very silly cement plant … why would he buy it? The answer might just lay as the cornerstone to the hundreds and thousands of houses he proposed to build so that Zambians would have better and adaquate housing. This means infra-structure; water plants; power plants; highways and roads; agriculture to feed Zambians including import and export to our surrounding Brothers and Sister in land locked barren lands; professional and trade education and employment for those desiring a better way in life; financing for companies borrowing to expand their current operation or venture capital and loans for start-ups; the flow of dollars for commerce and micro-trade. Remember the hotels plans; golf courses; the beautiful country we live in with all of the wonderful natural and magnificient sites … you dont think agriculture is going to attract visitors who spend millions AND LEAVE MILLIONS of revenue dollars in our country.
People of Zambia don’t call an educated man, an extremely intelligent man, a full blooded Zambian of Indian Decent whom says nothing about his misgivings about corrupt people and organizations including our most highly elected officials like Chiluba, and his current set of political friends. This man has done nothing to any Zambian except improve the Nation of Zambia, with his own money earned as profits from his hand built business enterprises. In addition, he has been a relentless proponent of Zambia to the outside world and all of it’s people and offerings.
Let’s look at the Maize deal: Mahtani puts it together, gives it to Chiluba, Chiluba “steals” it, makes his own deal for personal financial gain, Chiluba knows he is going to be caught and then blames it on Mahtani. Mahtani stands his ground for the TRUTH and for the Zambian people then he is forced to speaks out due to Mahtani’s outrage as the deal was for food for Zambians, then gets thrown in prison for treason for four months for having the truth about Chiluba and his willingness to speak out. Chiluba’s is held accountable in a international court for his mid deeds.
Chiluba comes back, spends time making the rounds and makes a deal with the current President and other government officals. An opportunity for Chiluba and the President, when a party to the sale and acquisition of a cement company makes a complaint that Mahtani “steals” shares of a cement company (please explain to this sophisticated writer) and everyone under the sun including a secretary and a security guard are charged for crimes in a raid having to do with a stock transfer. Obviously, the the lowly secretary and the security guard were part of the acquisition team of professionals and they helped structure the deal so that the shares could be stolen. Are yo people reading this? Are you mistified? Are you worried this could happen to you if you open your mouth about something? Is this happening in Zambia … the country I love and have equally fought for?
In the meantime, Mahtani is charged with approximately 200 crimnal charges and is told by governments officials that he needs to dismantle his bank and sell a vast amount of his business assets he commenced from scratch with his own funds. Meanwhile, all is well for the media spins which amazingly enough occur in favor of Chiluba and the Current President which sets the foundation for the upcoming election.
The second most powerful voice is the church and it’s members which could swing the votes if the church was involved in such things. They are attacked in the most vicious way posible … with allegations that can not be eliminated by specific answers.
I am making a powerful statement for your consideration: OUR POLITICIANS ARE CORRUPT, ARE DOING IT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES AND ARE SUCKING THE LIFEBLOOD AND THE WELL BEING OF ALL ZAMBIANS COUNTRYWIDE. STAND UP … BE ACCOUNTED FOR … MAKE YOUR DISLIKE OF THE CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION KNOWN. TAKE CHARGE FOR THEY CAN”T JAIL ALL OF US WITH A SINGLE STRONG VOICE.
We are losing the international war for dollars by virtue of the stupidity, the blinded eyes of our people and the lack of productive leadership. These people need to go away, get some international experience and only after they have spent a deade or so, then that can get into the business of politics. We could be prosperous could be prosperous but a few are getting in the way for their own political gain.
By the Way, who is holding government accountable for the hundred of millions Chiluba stole and is current being in world international courts? Why hasn’t our current President made comments and or made overtures to collect the funds from the Courts? Is it possible those monies are in play with the former President – current President relationship?
I’m tired.
my dears…thr r many so called india zambianz 2 u pipo bt in reality we r zambianz n not indiaz..we wer born in zambia we grew up in zambia n zambia is our country n shal remain as our country..if u think dat thrs sum zambianzhu r messing abwt thn b4 pointing fingers as a whole let us investigate as to wat da story is…n if found guilty thn indeed thy should be punished…bt let us not point fingers at da so called INDIAN ZAMBIANZ bcoz we r zambians n we belong 2 zambia not INDIA.thnk u…
mamba – if Mahtani has 3 passports Zambian, British and Indian than Mahatani could be in hiding in a Zambian shit hole, or a British shit hole or even an Indian shit hole!
say it like it is: you probably do not want to understand that mahtani has 3 passports 1) Zambian 2) British 3) Indian
so do not write nonse.!!!!!!!!!
Mamba – Shit hole of India why? India, China 2 of the most up coming countries and will dominate the economies of the world. Now learn to understand facts: AN INTERPOL WARRANT OF ARREST means that whereever Mahtani is he will be arrested. I DID NOT say a WARRANT OF ARREST had been issued read what I said carefully. And by the way I have een to India, any foreigner is required to report to local police after a certain period and by the way Mahtani is Zambian so could he not be hiding in some shit hole in Zambia. Grow up Mamba don not show your ignorance!
says it like this , who tells you a interpol warrant of arrest beeen issued yet? maybe it has and mahtani must be hiding in some shit hole in india!!!!!!!
NO ONE NEEDS TO GO LOOKING FOR MAHTANI IT IS FOR THE ZAMBIAN AUTHORITIES TO ISSUE AN INTERPOL INTERNATIONAL WARRANT OF ARREST, THEN EVEN IF HE IS IN HIS PYJAMAS AND IN HIS BED MAHTANI WILL BE ARRESTED AND BE BROUGHT BACK TO FACE JUSTICE. SO ZAMBIANS THIS IS NOW UP TO OUR GOVERNMENT
insider and mambwe you are both writing about ifs and buts and you are missing the point, where is Mahtani? He has fled the country and if he comes back he shall face charges for money loundering , fraud, extorsion and much more. So you pipo don’t worry about where and when just get to the point mahtani has fled the country because he is guilty!!!!!!!!!!
Insider, your analysis is intriguing, but you are wrong about Bermuda. The moment they find out he was money laundering if he has any accounts there, they will freeze his accounts.
Insider:
Ok but say Mahtani sold his shares to Credit Suisse, underthe Exchange Control Act of Zambia any Zambian who disposes (sells) his shares in a Zambian company is required to be paid in Zambia, and if he is selling the shares to a foreigner / foreign company, they must pay for the shares in foreign currency.
The Exchange Control Act also requires the seller of his shares to exchange the foreign currency he is paid for his shares into Zambian Kwacha, therefore the Bank of Zambia would have to reflect the foreign currency paid to Mahtani as Zambia’s Foreign Exchange Earnings – just as it does for copper etc. May I right?
good info. – If you need more details regarding structured settlements, you read more basics like : what is a structured settlement on my blog.
‘Say it like it is’, you are partly right. Had Credit Suisse actually bought Mahtani’s shares in Finance Bank, they would have paid Mahtani in US dollars or Euros. I’m not sure if this would be recorded by BOZ , since Finance Bank is ‘privately’ owned. If it were ZANACO, which is partly owned by GRZ, then BOZ would definitely be privy to this information.
But nonetheless since BOZ is the financial regulator, they should be provided with proof of investment. But all this is hypothetical, because Credit Suisse has not invested any money in Finance Bank. If it had, Credit Suisse (being a public company) would have to include the details of this deal in their Yearly Financial Statements, which clearly they didn’t.
Godfrey, Mahtani is no angel! He is a shrewd and ruthless business man. Do you know what the capital requirements to set up a bank in the 80’s were?? It was a mere $250,000 only! That is all Mahtani invested to open up “shop” in Zambia. Tell me where in the world could he open up a bank for such minimum investement? The answer is “NO WHERE”.
The whole idea of opening up a bank and retaining full control of it is extremely dangerous. Now imagine you are using “depositors” money to lend to some of your “own” companies. This is called insider lending. Yes Mahtani is very smart because he claims he is the chairman of 30 plus companies in Zambia! So apart from FBZ, PICZ and leasing Finance, where are the remaining 20+ companies? Okay to answer that, Mahtani has ‘dummy’ companies which borrow money through Finance Bank (insider lending). Most of these companies show losses and may even be shut down and probably never pay back the loans to FBZ. This portion goes down under “provision for bad loans” in FBZ’s accounting. Every bank maintains certain amount of money for bad loans. So now since Mahtani has 100% control on Finance Bank, he can lend out calculated amount of monies to his own companies (dummy co’s), and siphon off more money , in addition to the yearly profits he earns from the bank anyway!
So this is a classic example of literally using other people’s money by investing nothing into the venture. This is why BOZ has strict guidelines, that no single person can own more than 25% shares of a bank! So I hope I’ve answered your question on the “easy” way of Mahtani making money.
On the issue of convincing Credit Suisse to invest in Finance bank? Let’s think about it: Finance Bank makes $15 million/yr in profit. So Credit Suisse would get only $6 million. Do you know how much Credit Suisse CEO makes yearly? ($10 million +). So go figure- Credit Suisse pays more to its CEO than it gets from Finance Bank Zambia!! What a joke!!
People let’s wake up!!
If Mahtani just wanted to get rich quick, he would have left Zambia a long time ago. There are easier ways to make money then to convince a bank like credit suisse to invest in a third world african country – not an easy task – and to convince other investors to come here too. All that takes time and effort, it does not happen over night.
He could have taken his money and set-up shop somewhere else where he would actually be respected and commended for his hard work. It’s about time we appreciated what he’s done for Zambia instead of insulting him and trying to force him out through trumped up charges.
the insider:
I agree with everything you say indeed you are the only one who has hit the nail on the head. Only thing you have not commented on and I hope you will is: say Mathani’s share holding in Finance Bank was worth for aguments sake $200 million would Credit Suisse not be required to pay Mahtani $200 million in US $ in Zambia and that this foreign exchange payment would have to be reflected in Bank of Zambia’s foreign exchange earning figures.
I said it before,this all deal at finance bank is not straight. We are being conned again.
‘Say it like it is’, Finance Bank Zambia is still controlled by Mahtani!
Credit Suisse was hired to help the bank raise money through a bond offering. In return Credit Suisse would make a handsome amount of money in ‘fees’ for arranging the deal and being a ‘lead’ manager. This is one of the ways how Investment Banks in the West earn money.
The reason Credit Suisse may have agreed to lend their name (and show shareholding) was to make the deal attractive and credible for buyers of Finance Bank Bonds (debt). Having a big name like Credit Suisse backing Finance Bank would make the deal sound legitimate and attractive for buyers. Raising $139 million dollars (K500 billion +) is not an easy task.
The question which should be asked is, what was the money going to be used for??
Finance Bank said it would use the money to open branches in DRC and Zimbabwe. One should realize that opening a bank does not require this kind of capital in African countries!
Secondly how could Finance Bank Zambia be allowed to float $139 million dollars in bonds, where as it only earns $10-$15 million/yrly in Net Profit!! How would the bank service this debt?? The debt is 10X it’s earnings!! I’m not a CA, but this seems like a Ponzi Scheme masterminded by Mahtani, to raise money from Zambians and externalise it into his offshore accounts in Bermuda!
Insider
Thank you for your superb contribution. Indeed if Credit Suisse has bought 100% of Finance Bank, the foreign exchange earnings in US dollars should be shown in Bank of Zambia holdings of foreign excange as Mahtani and the the other share holders would have to have been paid in dollars and as Finance Bank is incorporated in Zambia the proceeds for the sell of the shares would have to be sent by Credit Suisse in Zambia.
Also it is impossible for Credit Suisse to buy Finance Bank without the regulatory authorities like Bank of Zambia, GRZ etc giving prior permission this is a lenghty process taking months, yet almost over night Credit Suisse announced the take over of Finance Bank, how? why?
Why did Credit Suisse officials meet RB in Dubai and not in Zambia? After all Dubai is not where senior Credit Suisse officials are based? Who arranged the visit? What was discussed? Was Mahtani himself present when RB met Credit Suisse officials in Dubai?
Credit Suisse makes part of its profits by acting as a nominee share holder – that is holding someone else’s shares in trust for them – it is more than likely that Credit Suisse is a nominee for Mahtani and his gang of crooks. Credit Suisse does NOT own other banks anywhere else in the world, why Zambia? something is NOT right!
Insider,
please note that Mrs.Craven and Mrs.Shoultz are never coming back to Zambia as they are directly involved with Mahtani and the money loundering issues!!!!!
Don’t forget it is the first time that mahtani has fled Zambia in all the other occasions he was there to fight!!!!!!!!
Headboy,
You are missing the point. It’s got nothing to do with getting used to it. Are you Malawian? Are you Zimbabwean? Are you Nigerian? C’mon man, your argument is invalid and insufficient and daft. India is a country, not a continent. They are NOT all the same. You probably see a Japanese and a Chinese and think they are one and the same.
ZWD clearly loves controversy, and that’s why they chose that incorrect headline intended to mislead it’s readers. And you have fallen prey.
What bank doesn’t have some sort of controversy surrounding it? Do you read any other newspapers apart from the watchdog??? A site that doesn’t even get its facts right???? Just the watchdog seems to be obsessed with Finance bank because of Mahtani!!! That’s why we have to hear of every mundane detail. All banks are normally restructured following the resignation of someone at executive level. Do you guys know anything about business???
Looking at the board – David King is also a director. Has he gone too?? Why does he seem to have some kind of special immunity even though he was MD of the bank when all these ‘irregularities’ are said to have occured. Also, isn’t he an expatriot??? He said all expats to go – so what about him???
a board shouldn’t be dissolved just for the sake of it. Educated people who know how to run a bank should be in those positions not government apointees.
The board of finance bank built the bank so they didn’t do a bad job did they considering it is the only bank that serves the most remote part of our nation.
People, please have some common sense!
Finance Bank Zambia has always had controversy surrounding it, especially when Dr. Mahtani has been the Chairman of the Board; for example:
1)1990-91, internal issues within the board where the Executive Director claimed 15% shareholding and Mahtani denied it and the matter went to court.
2)1996-97, fraud in Finance Bank Malawi, which almost shut down the operation of the bank in Malawi.
3)1998, Mahtani’s involvement with the Carlington Maize Scandal where he was paid out $240,000 in commissions and the deal went sour. This led to Mahtani’s fallout with Dr. Chiluba. There was a run on Finance Bank Zambia, and Mahtani was removed as chairman. BOZ under Dr. Mwanza at the time advised Mahtani to reduce shareholding to 25%.
4)2002, Mahtani returns as chairman and claims Loita Capital bought out a large percentage of the bank. Then it was stated later on that Loita Capital was under a “bank management” agreement to help Finance Bank introduce new banking products. So was Loita a real shareholder or just a “consultant”?
5)2005, Reserve Bank of Malawi takes control of Finance Bank Malawi, due to “irregularities” in dealing of foreign exchange. There was a run on Finance Bank Malawi, and eventually the bank collapsed. While this was going on strangely enough Finance Bank Zambia Board favoured Mahtani to stay on as chairman of the Zambian division.
6)2008, Mahtani announces that Credit Suisse had bought 40% of Finance Bank Zambia. Strangely enough no financial information was given about the deal structure, and Credit Suisse failed to comment on it. On top of all that Credit Suisse’s Financial Statements of 2008 & 2009 DO NOT mention any “equity” buyout of any Zambian bank. So does Credit Suisse really own 40%?
7)2010, Mahtani resigns as chairman, and Credit Suisse instantly buys 25% of Mahtani’s shares to take control of Finance Bank?? If one did believe Credit Suisse actually owned 40%, why would such a reputable bank instantly buy 25% more shares when there is so much controversy surrounding Finance Bank?? If conventional wisdom prevailed, Credit Suisse would do the opposite, and distance itself from Finance bank by “selling” and not “buying” more shares of the bank.
Ladies and Gentlemen news of the board being dissolved seems quite interesting also. One should ask the question, ‘why is it that so many changes have taken place within 2 weeks of Dr. Mwanza taking charge of Finance Bank Board?’ ; for example:
1)The DMD position being dissolved and non renewal of contracts of all expatriates.
2)Credit Suisse buying out the remaining shares of Dr. Mahtani on the fly, in order to gain control.
3)Finding of Ghost Accounts at the Bank.
The answer to all the above queries is that Mahtani still controls 100% of Finance Bank Zambia, and all the entities listed under “Shareholders” of the bank are there to mislead BOZ and the Zambian public. In order to verify true shareholding, Finance Bank needs to provide share certificates and financial details showing how much money was actually paid to acquire equity in the bank.
If Dr. Jacob Mwanza actually dissolved the board, then he must have realized the board were all Mahtani ‘insiders’. And hence the removal of all expatriates and DMD would also take out “all” Mahtani’s handpicked lieutenants in one-shot.
But if the board chose to dissolve “itself” then one should be careful because this might be Mahtani pulling strings to bring in new faces on the board, to once again fool everyone and be ultimately in control!
Stay tuned for more to come…
Wether the board is dissolved by Mwanza or Credit Suisse this is good news.
Please make sure that the new board consists of qualified Zambians.
Finance Bank is one bank that has what I would call “Virgin Potential”.
Basically, what I mean is that the bank is able to become the most profitable bank in Zambia due to it’s wide spread branch network, second to none; above a trillion Kwacha mark of deposits.
The new Oracle software(Flexcube/Flexbranch and Business Objects) introduced by the bank(Currently being used in Zambia by Citi Bank, Zanaco,BancABC and Finance Bank) is the best in the banking industry world over. I have used BRAINS before but it’s way far below Flexcube.
This is definately good news, wether The Post or Daily Mail print or not.
Maybe they are being a bit more professional than the watchdog which collects info from SMSs and E mails.
Regards
Peter Ngandu Magande must be sweating below his pants…This boy at the Bank of Zambia Fundanga thought he would play Bulls Shit too? He thought people would not see through his plot with Magande? Remember how Magande protected Mathani when a Guardian Weekly Reporter asked him why he was paying the Mathani group K9 billion of an old un documented debt of supplies of Fresh Air to the Zambian Army leaving out the many Zambian suppliers who were owed very small amounts? Remember the reporter saying this K9 billion could have cleared more than 1,000 to 3,000 poor Zambian Suppliers? Remember Magande’s reply? “There is nothing wrong with helping out a friend”. Remember Rajani Mathani went and put an Injunction on a very small poor newspaper the Guardian News paper and its Lady Managing Editor was it Geloo or who ever to stop her from reporting on anything to do with the Mathani Group??? Where is the lady now by the way??? Remember the major debt collector of the Bank was using State House Letter Heads??? Remember the several cheques of K1.9 billion, K1.7 billion and so forth written from the joint account of some Legacy team to a Mr. …. who worked at State House? Remember Rajani Mathani was also the deal cutter between the Zambian Government and the Indian Mine Investors that ended up buying the entire Nchanga Mines for only US$25 million? Remember Six months latter KCM made a before tax profit of US$ 500 million? Remember the fictitious JW Consultants of Switzerland? Oh we can go on and on. Could this be the mother of all Corruption that Late Tetamashimba was telling us about? How about the hearses? How is that going?
Jigga when they say they have fired all Indians they mean the ones in the management of the bank not the ones that compose the board of directors.
JIGGA,
Pakistan, siri lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, name them, are all Indians in our Zambian eyes. All Arabs are Lebanese. All blacks are Africans, so get used to it.
Indeed journalist make news and chart the Agenda for the country, While this is big news to the watchdog and the business community its nontheless not worth a paragraph in the post newspaper. How would achibishops reply and Mpombo be worth news much more than the repetetive dissolution of a banks board? A bank that has a million clients most of whom buy the paper on a daily basis. Are we sayng its not a big deal for these people to loose their life savings than to listen to mpombo and the Archbishop keeping silent on adultery under his nose?
I had a look at the Finance Bank’s site via the link posted by the author of his story,i have looked at the composition of the board and and Executive of the bank and realised that the expatriates who are Executives at the Bank are mostly from Pakistan,there is one from India and others are from other nations and some are Zambians so why did this site report that Finance Bank had ”fired all Indians?” when in actual fact there is only one serving in a senior position?
Someone lashed insults at me and someone else for questioning this site’s Editor on their misleading headlines.
Rajan run a tightly knit outfit and in his own crooked way ensured things worked for him. In a Board of 10 he wielded power as he was assured of the vote of Joan Craven, Mary Shultz, White Kumwenda, William Nyirenda, Partick Chamunda and Rampesh then ofcourse his loyal boy Noel Nkoma would do his bidding in the day to day running of affairs.
Now that the purge is on ..what needs to happen is to get a good mix such as exists at Rabo Bank at present with more qualified and experienced Zambians coming in to hold senior management positions and not so much the jokers that appear on he website..these should not come in and exhibit chola-boy mentality but ensure that the ship remains afloat and it goes to better and greater heights…
Credit Suisse have obviously quelled a run on the Bank and Mwanza with his myopic classroom approach to issues cannot have held the fort as is expected this requires a younger person with an economic and financial finese to steer the ship from the icebergs.
Sadly it will be a toll order as they might just find that half of what appeared to be banking was either an undertable deal or something alien to banking, with structured finance entwined with crookery of the worst order and dismantling it will take some doing for this bank that was began in a garage.
Rajan on the run? Well he is too ‘small’ to hide from Interpol and if the will power is there he can be reigned in fast….
Yeah, this is what’s needed to maintain the integrity of the bank. But Mahtani fled Zambia? Man, can you ever trust these guys originating from somewhere. Always got skeletons in their cupboards.