Dubai: Another group of colleagues who bought a raffle ticket has struck the jackpot on Tuesday — this time in Dubai — with winnings of $1 million (Dh3.67 million).
The 10 employees of Al Futtaim Trading Enterprise bought ticket No 1197 in Series 280 online in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw.
Gurmeet Singh, a 38-year-old Indian, bought the ticket on behalf of his nine colleagues who are Indian, Bangladeshi and Filipino.
This was his first time that he decided to buy a ticket with colleagues, agreeing to split the money if they win.
Singh, a showroom manager at the Dubai Festival City branch, bought the ticket on July 18. He couldn’t contain his excitement when he heard that he had won.
“Dubai Duty Free is indeed full of surprises. Thank you Dubai Duty Free for this magical moment,” said Singh, who has lived in Dubai for 16 years.
After the draw, a ceremonial cheque presentation was made to DDF’s previous winner, Antoine Labaky, who won in Series 279 with ticket No 3277.
Labaky flew in from Lebanon to collect his prize money. He is the 11th Lebanese to win $1 million since the raffle’s inception in 1999. He also won a BMW 745Li (White) in Series 1151 on August 17, 2004.
“I am thrilled to be here today to receive my winning prize and to thank the people who made my dream a reality. This is truly a memorable experience for me,” Labacky said.
Two other winners were also announced in the Finest Surprise promotion, each one winning a luxury vehicle.
Nivhans Seeboo, a Mauritian based in Dubai, won a Diamond White Mercedes Benz S560 in Series 1696 with ticket No 0954, which he bought online.
Seeboo, the second Mauritian to win the Finest Surprise promotion, could not be reached on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Tarek Ahmad, a Dubai-based Egyptian, won the stylish motorbike BMW R 1200 GS Rallye with ticket No 0718 in Series 345.
Ahmad, 38, a project manager for an oil and gas company, bought five tickets when he travelled to Egypt for vacation.
“I was thinking of upgrading my small BMW motorbike, so I bought five tickets for this series hoping to get lucky, and to my great surprise I just did! Thank you Dubai Duty Free, I can’t wait to drive my dream bike on Dubai’s roads,” he said.
Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman and CEO; Salah Tahlak, executive vice-president — Corporate Services; Sinead El Sibai, senior vice-president — marketing and Mona Al Ali, vice-president — HR Service Delivery, conducted the draw. Michael Schmidt, senior vice-president — Retail Support, was present.
