Nineteen prospective jurors were challenged and eight excused or discharged after speaking with the judge before a panel of eight women and four men was selected.
Once empanelled, the jurors were released until today when the Crown will open its case.
But the presiding judge, Justice Stevens, of Auckland, warned them against making their own inquiries into the charges.
They were not required to "play the role of detective", the judge told the jurors, and any searching of the Internet for information about the case was "a no-no".
Swann (46) and Harford (48) each deny three charges of dishonestly and fraudulently using documents, namely 198 invoices from Harford-owned companies Sonnford Solutions Ltd and its predecessor, Harford Sonntag and Associates, to obtain a pecuniary advantage or valuable consideration from the board and its predecessor, Healthcare Otago, between August 30, 2000 and August 10, 2006.
The Serious Fraud Office charges, laid in June last year, allege the companies invoiced the board and were paid, for IT-related licences, services and support work they never provided, the particular services being already covered under agreements with IBM.
The Crown says Swann received the invoices personally, authorised them for payment and passed them on to the board's accounts section for payment.
And the money received - a total of $16,902,145.27 over six years - was divided 90% and 10% between Swann and Harford-controlled companies.
Swann is represented by John Haig QC, with assisting counsel Billy Boyd, of Auckland, and Harford by Greg King, of Wellington.
Dunedin Crown solicitor Robin Bates and SFO counsel Anita Killeen will call 41 witnesses for the prosecution during the trial, which is expected to last three weeks.
But the good news from Justice Stevens was that counsel and the jurors would have their Friday afternoons free during the hearing.
