An associate of Luggate farmer and businessman Lloyd Ferguson has verified Mr Ferguson's links to the royal family of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.
Lawyer Bill Dawkins used those links in the Queenstown District Court on Wednesday to help argue, successfully, for Mr Ferguson to be discharged without conviction on two firearms charges.
Mr Dawkins said Mr Ferguson had extensive business interests overseas and any conviction would affect his ability to travel.
The business interests he referred to were the potential export of dairy products, milk-fed lambs and fresh water to the UAE.
Mr Ferguson declined to elaborate on his business with the UAE when approached by the Otago Daily Times last week.
However, a Wanaka businessman confirmed Mr Ferguson's claim in court to have travelled to Dubai in the past month to meet the Sheikh Sultan and the Crown Prince of Dubai, and confirmed members of the wider royal family had travelled to Wanaka.
He was restricted in what he could say by a non-disclosure agreement he had signed.
''What I can say to you ... is the fact that some of these trips [to Wanaka] are happening.
''They are strictly confidential and I think the attraction to them [the royal family] is what I call genuine people and genuine experiences.
''It's not about coming down and spending money.
''There's a real bond going on ... but it's strictly confidential.''
Another Wanaka businessman described the connections between high-end UAE tourists and Wanaka tourist operators as being ''under the radar''.
Mr Dawkins said in court the Sheikh Sultan was likely to come to New Zealand in February and March, to tie together the business deals under discussion with Mr Ferguson.
He told Judge John Bergseng Mr Ferguson had delivered 12 $300 milk-fed lambs to the Crown Prince and Sheikh Sultan and that there was the potential for a profitable export trade.
And, he said, the UAE wanted tanker-loads of New Zealand water.
The facebook page of Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum says he enjoys writing poetry.
He is known to have a passion for camels, cars, travel and skydiving. He had a narrow escape recently when his parachute became tangled during a skydive.
His half-brother, Sheik Sultan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, is deputy prime minister of the UAE.
