Former Australian businessmen Matthew Joyce and Angus Reed have been slapped a 10-year imprisonment by the justice courts in United Arab Emirates following convictions of property fraud charges over a Dubai Waterfront project in 2009.

The Ruler's Court, which handed down the verdict on Monday, acquitted Marcus Lee, Messrs Joyce and Reed's junior colleague.

Apart from the decade-long imprisonment, Mr Joyce is required to pay a fine of $25 million before he gets released.

Mr Joyce's lawyers said they will appeal his case. They are not particularly pleased that the Dubai court based its decision on an independent expert's report which did not even take into consideration the findings of a Victorian Supreme Court in 2012. The latter found the charges hurled against Mr Joyce were inconclusive, essentially dismissing the case and even called it a "non-existent fraud."

Foreign Minister Bob Carr also said the Australian government will assist Mr Joyce and his family in appealing his 10-year jail sentence and $25-million fine.

However, Mr Carr pointed out the Australian government can't fight cases for people in the courts of other countries. He said all the federal government can do is to request the United Arab Emirates to deal with the appeal quickly.

"We can support the Joyce family with strenuous consular representations, especially about the indefensible amount of time this has taken," Mr Carr said.

"But the substance of the case has got to be a matter pursued by their legal representation."

Shocked

"I am shocked by the extremity of today's verdict," Mr Joyce said on Monday night. "My family and I are still coming to terms with it. I have received 10 years' jail, the maximum possible sentence, and a fine of $25 million, which is double the loss alleged by the prosecution."

But what pains him most, according to Mr Joyce, was that he got convicted based on the evidence of a witness who was found by an Australian court to have lied.

"I am innocent of the charges against me," Mr Joyce said, who has been held under house arrest in Dubai since 2009.

In 2007, Australian developer Sunland alleged that Prudentia Investments, a company controlled by Mr Reed, who was tried and convicted in absentia, duped it into paying a $14 million fee to secure a prime Dubai waterfront lot. The $14 million was split between Messrs Joyce and Reed, it alleged. Prudentia had no rights to sell the block, according to Dubai prosecutors.

Acquittal

The Ruler's Court meanwhile acquitted Mr Lee since he obtained no financial benefit from the deal, pointing that he Mr Lee just simply followed orders from his superiors and carried out his task as director of commercial operations.

However, Mr Lee's acquittal can still be subject to an appeal by the prosecution. It means he still can not leave the country yet.

Only if prosecutors decide not to appeal can Mr Lee apply to have his passport returned.

Both Messrs Joyce and Lee have been under house arrest in Dubai since being released on bail four years ago. Mr Reed, who is in Melbourne, was tried in absentia.

A Prudentia Investments spokesman said they were ''deeply disappointed, but not surprised" by the decision of the court.

''Prudentia calls on Foreign Minister Carr to now work with the Dubai authorities to free Mr Joyce, who is the innocent victim of a false complaint by Sunland.''

Sunland, meantime, said in a statement that it ''recognises the independence of the Emirate of Dubai and its legal system and acknowledges the outcome of the proceedings."

''Sunland will review closely its contents and impact on Sunland's legal rights and its outstanding legal proceedings,'' it said.