Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted tycoon in Zambia, recently hired Omnia Strategy, an international law firm by famed Cherie Blair. The legal context was a claim which accused Atlas Mara of breaching the terms associated with share sales & purchase agreement established when the company took over Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s Finance Bank Zambia. This agreement took place in the year 2015 and according to the claim made by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, Atlas Mara still owes money from sale of the FBZ. Atlas Mara is a banking ground created by Bob Diamond, who is considered as the brain behind this unethical operation. Bob Diamond came to negative limelight in the year 2012 when he had to step down from his position as CEO (Chief Executive Office) of Barclays after he was named in the infamous Libor-rigging scandal. The company Atlas Mara was floated by Bob Diamond soon after in the year 2013 and had a bold objective of creating banking giant across Africa. This was also the time when Bob Diamond returned to the Zambia city after the infamous scandal and his subsequent resignation.
The case established by Dr. Rajan Mahtani is significant as it came at a time when the company Atlas Mara has continued its strategy to retreat from the African subcontinent and selling its business parts to the Access Bank. Dr. Mahtani, along with other investors, are pursuing a damage worth more than 100 million pounds from Bob Diamond and his company Atlas Mara. Since the launch of this banking institution Atlas Mara, shares have collapsed continuously, majorly due to limited facilities, negative reputation as well as inability of the bank to continue its services due to internal corruption. In the year 2019, Bob Diamond resigned from his position as its chairman and remained as non-executive director. Many have claimed that this is a strategy to remain elusive to the ever-increasing claims of corruption and unethical practices at Atlas Mara.
Omnia Strategy is currently pursuing this case to the London High Court.