A transformative moment occurred for ten employees from the same company who jointly won $1 million in the recent Dubai Duty Free Draw. Asif Mathilakath Assees, a 41-year-old Indian expat residing in Sharjah, alongside nine of his coworkers, emerged as the winners of the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draw held at Concourse B of Dubai International Airport. Assees, who has lived in Sharjah for 14 years, secured the victory in Millennium Millionaire Series 471 with ticket number 4909. This ticket, bought on August 2 during his trip from Dubai to Kochi, India, was shared among his colleagues. The group has been consistently participating in the Dubai Duty Free promotion for a decade, regularly switching the name on the ticket for each series.
“This is a life-altering moment for all of us. We are immensely grateful to Dubai Duty Free,” expressed Assees, who works in sales marketing for a manufacturing company. He is a father of one, originally from Kerala, India, and marks the 234th Indian national to win the Millennium Millionaire promotion since its launch in 1999. Indian nationals have been the most frequent participants and winners. The draw was presided over by several senior executives from Dubai Duty Free, including Sinead El Sibai, SVP – Marketing, Mona Al Ali, SVP – HR, Michael Schmidt, SVP - Retail, Yasa Tahir, VP – HR, and other senior managers.
Subsequent to the Millennium Millionaire draw, a Finest Surprise draw for a luxury car was also held. Kais Kriem, a 49-year-old French national living in Dubai, won a BMW 740i M Sport (Tanzanite Blue Metallic) with ticket number 0409 in the Finest Surprise Series 1889. Kriem, who has been in Dubai for 10 years and serves as a new market development director for a beverage company, acquired the ticket on August 4 during his journey to Tunis, Tunisia. “Thank you, Dubai Duty Free! This win is very timely,” Kriem, a father of two, remarked. He is the 32nd French national to win a car in the Finest Surprise promotion since its inception in 1989. Kriem has been a consistent participant in Dubai Duty Free's promotion for 6 years.