Two lucky individuals win $1 million each in Dubai Duty Free draw

Dubai: Dubai: Two lucky individuals have won $1 million (Dh3.678 million) each at the latest Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise promotion. Interestingly, one of the winners is yet to know that he has won the mega jackpot!

Abdulhakim Alshafei, a 64-year-old Bahraini national based in Manama, became a $1 million winner in Millennium Millionaire Series 356 with ticket number 2392, which he had purchased online on March 21.

Alshafei, 64, who works as an investment consultant, said he was grateful for the win. The father of two who works for a company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said he was yet to decide as to what he would do with the prizemoney.

Joining Alshafei is Selmir Omazic, a Bosnian national based in Bosnia and Hercegovina. He won $1 million in Millennium Millionaire Series 357 with ticket number 2609, which he had purchased online on April 1. As of the time the news went online, Omazic was unaware of his jackpot win. He is unreachable on his phone. Gulf News tried his number as well but to no avail.

Following the Millennium Millionaire draw the Finest Surprise draw was conducted for two luxury cars and two motorbikes. Joining in the draw line-up were Michael Schmidt, senior vice-president, Retail Support, Sharon Beecham, vice-president, Purchasing, and Zayed Al Shebli, vice-president, Loss Prevention and Corporate Security.

Indian expat Jayan Palakkal, 51, living in Sharjah, won a BMW 760Li xDrive (Black Sapphire Metallic) car, with ticket number 0474, in the Finest Surprise Series 1771, which he had purchased online on March 30. A father of one, Palakkal belongs to the same group of 25 employees of a school transport service company in Al Quoz who had won $1 million sometime ago.

Sharing the ticket cost with the same group of 25 employees, Palakkal, who bought the ticket under his name this time, was understandably ecstatic to share the good news with his colleagues. “Thank you so much Dubai Duty Free. This Is a great opportunity and we will continue to buy tickets. I encouraged everyone to take part in this amazing promotion,” he said.

Meanwhile, South African expatriate, Dean Post, 53, based in Dubai, won a Mercedes Benz GLE 53 4M AMG (Polar White) car, with ticket number 1152, in the Finest Surprise Series 1772, which he had purchased online on April 17.

A regular participant in Dubai Duty Free’s promotion for five years now, the father of two is a resident of Dubai for 14 years and works as chief financial officer for a shipping company in Dubai. “Thank you for the fantastic surprise Dubai Duty Free,” he said.

It was a lucky day for Pakistani national Muhammad Ali Atara, too, who won a BMW R 1250 RS (Black Storm Metallic) motorbike, with ticket number 0367, in the Finest Surprise Series 451, which he had purchased online on April 3.

Hafeezur Rahman, an Indian national based in Dubai, also won an Aprilla RSV4 Factory (Atomico Racer) motorbike, with ticket number 0730, in the Finest Surprise Series 452. He had bought the ticket on April 13.

Wednesday’s Millennium Millionaire draw was conducted by Dubai Duty Free’s executive vice-chairman and CEO, Colm McLoughlin, chief operating officer, Ramesh Cidambi, and Sinead El Sibai, senior vice-president, Marketing.