Dubai: Fresh investigations by prosecutors have shown that four Australian executives inflicted a loss of Dh142 million on Nakheel’s Water Front Project, Gulf News has learnt.

On July 15 the Dubai Court of First Instance returned the graft case, famously known by the Dubai Waterfront, involving two former Nakheel executives and two runaway suspects, who were earlier charged with causing deliberate loss of Dh44 million, to probe uninvestigated incidents after four years of proceedings.

The two former executives are the 43-year-old executive director, M.J., and the 40-year-old operations manager, M.R.

The runaways are the Waterfront’s former legal advisor, 44-year-old A.J. and a fourth man, A.R.

According to the new accusation sheet, Chief Prosecutor Khaled Al Zarouni accused the four defendants altogether of causing a deliberate loss in public funds that went up to the tune of Dh142,153,760 to Nakheel [a public body].

Chief Prosecutor Al Zarouni mentioned in the recently-modified bill of accusations that the ex-Nakheel employees [M.J., M.R. and A.J.] cooperated with A.R. to unlawfully win for themselves Dh44 million over selling a plot of land in the City of Arabs in the Project.

M.R. was the one who drafted the agreement, according to prosecution records, mentioning in it untrue information regarding the price of the land’s aerial square feet by making it worth Dh120 instead of Dh185.

He mentioned in the agreement that the down payment was 5 percent instead of 15 percent to sell it to a company called Sunland despite the fact that the buyer knew that the money was a commission.

The total price became Dh192 million.

A.J. prepared the contracts and submitted the legal documents of the deal before obtaining the management’s approval to sell. M.J. had also approved the aforementioned price of the aerial square foot [Dh120 instead of Dh185].

Prosecution documents said M.J.’s stake from the commission was Dh22.1 million. Nakheel incurred a deliberate loss of Dh142 million and that discrepancy in the price was exposed by the auditors, who prepared the auditing report of the Financial Control Department at the Rulers Court.

Meanwhile prosecutors as A.R. acted as a broker and represented his three countrymen in the agreement. He was said to have obtained Dh44,105,780 from the buyer after claiming that the plot was unavailable for sale directly through Nakheel but only through him.

Chief Prosecutor Al Zarouni also accused the four suspects of swindling and coning Dh44.1 million from Sunland’s manager, D.B.

A.R. claimed to D.B. that the plot of land was owned by his company and that for Sunland to buy it, he [D.B.] had to pay the money to the former Nakheel employees [M.J., M.R. and A.J.]

M.J., M.R. and A.J. were additionally charged with abusing public office and corroborated their claims to D.B. by exchanging emails over the concerned land deal.

They were additionally accused of utilizing Nakheel’s confidential information for their own benefit.

The new trial will be held on September 20.