The civil trial of a former Nakheel executive charged with defrauding an Australian developer is underway in Australia.
Matthew Joyce was the managing director of Nakheel's Dubai Waterfront project, billed as the largest waterfront master planned development in the world. He is accused of duping Sunland Group into paying a $14 million (Dh51.4mn) consulting fee to a company run by a friend to help buy land he didn't control.
Mr Joyce and another former Nakheel executive from Australia, Marcus Lee, were arrested in Dubai in 2009 and charged with corruption, abuse of public funds, fraud, breach of trust and accepting a bribe. Mr Joyce spent nine months in jail before being released on bail.
At the same time Sunland filed a civil case against Mr Joyce.
Mr Joyce denies the charges. In 2009 Mr Joyce's attorney said the Australian case could clear Mr Joyce and demonstrate that the payment was not a bribe, but a legitimate consulting fee.
The first witness called in the case was David Brown, the former head of Sunland's Middle East operation, according to coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald.