Australian executives were cleared in Dubai after five years.
The long-running saga of two Australian property executives accused of fraud in Dubai appears to be coming to a close. for sale apartments
Matt Joyce, the former managing director of Dubai Waterfront, an ambitious effort to create a city-within-a-city in the emirate, was acquitted by a Dubai court of appeals on Sunday. The acquittal of Mr. Joyce’s colleague, Marcus Lee, was also upheld by the court.
After being convicted of fraud charges in May, Mr. Joyce faced ten years in prison and a fine of $25 million.
The case revolved around a $12 million consultancy fee charged by Australian developer Sunland to buy a parcel of land in the Waterfront scheme, despite the fact that it was complicated. The two executives allegedly duped Sunland into paying the fee in order to get another company to abandon its plans for the land, according to Dubai prosecutors.
In January 2009, Mr. Joyce and Mr. Lee were convicted and sentenced to nine months in prison. Since then, they’ve been under house arrest.
People familiar with the case, however, still thought the evidence against the executives was flimsy. In an Australian civil tribunal, both executives were found not guilty.
Mr Joyce told the Sydney Morning Herald, “It’s such an immense relief that the truth has come out through the Dubai justice system.”
Prosecutors have 30 days to appeal the ruling of the court of appeals.
The Dubai Waterfront, which spans 70 kilometers of coastline, is one of the world’s largest waterfront master-planned developments. The centerpiece, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, was a new version of Manhattan.
However, after the 2008 financial crisis, the project, which was majority owned by Nakheel, a Dubai developer, came to a halt.
An Abu Dhabi fund has purchased a hotel portfolio in Australia.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has acquired Tourism Asset Holdings Ltd, Australia’s largest hotel owner, giving it control of 31 properties across the country’s major cities.
Bloomberg notes that the contract was signed by an investment unit of the Abu Dhabi fund for an undisclosed amount. According to news in the media, the transaction is worth $740 million.
Accor, headquartered in Paris, will continue to run the hotels. According to The National, the portfolio includes hotels in the mid-market segment that operate under the Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Ibis Styles, and Ibis Budget names.
According to analysts, foreign investors are increasingly targeting Australia’s prime hotel segment, which offers higher yields than commercial properties in the country. In August, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. of South Korea paid $316 million for Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel.
“The mood for hotel assets is high, especially from offshore purchasers,” Rob Cross, regional director for hotels at CBRE Group Inc., told Bloomberg. “They regard Australia’s property market as highly transparent and stable. In Australia’s corporate market, the operational side of hotels is very solid.”
In April, Tawreed Investments, an Abu Dhabi fund subsidiary, was a member of a consortium that leased two Australian ports for A$5.07 billion.
Tourism Asset Holdings began operations in 1993 and was sold to a private equity firm in 2002.
In a statement, TAHL’s chief executive, Matt Eady, said of the Abu Dhabi fund transaction, “We decided to run a discreet, targeted selling process and we were very pleased with the response we got.” “Since taking TAHL’s platform independent in 2009, this sale has been the result of a fruitful four-year plan.”