Dubai: Soon-to-be-father becomes millionaire at Duty Free draw

A German and an Indian national have been added to the growing list of dollar millionaire while three others won luxury vehicles when Dubai Duty Free conducted the latest draw for Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise promotion at Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport.

Jürgen Alois Maschauer, a German national won $1 million in Millennium Millionaire Series 427 with ticket number 1679, which he purchased online on June 15.

Maschauer is currently uncontactable, but will no doubt be delighted to learn of his newfound wealth, which makes him the 10th German national to have won $1 million since the start of the Millennium Millionaire promotion in 1999.

Joining Maschauer as a fellow millionaire is Mani Balaraj, a 36-year-old Indian national based in Abu Dhabi who was also announced the winner of US$1 million in Millennium Millionaire Series 428 with ticket number 0405, which he purchased online on June 23.

A resident of Abu Dhabi for 12 years, Balaraj who shared the ticket cost with his four other friends, have been participating in the Dubai Duty Free promotion for 2 years now. alternating the name on the ticket for each series whenever they purchase.

A soon to be father of two, Balaraj works as an IT personnel in a company in Abu Dhabi.

“Thank you Dubai Duty Free! I have never won anything this big in my life. I’m just so happy and grateful,” he said.

Balaraj who hails from Kerala is the 211th Indian national to have won US$1 million since the start of the Millennium Millionaire promotion in 1999 and Indian nationals are the biggest buyers of tickets.

Today's draws were conducted by Dubai Duty Free's Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin, COO Ramesh Cidambi, Mona Al Ali, SVP – Human Resources and Sharon Beecham, SVP – Purchasing.

Following the Millennium Millionaire presentation, the Finest Surprise draw was conducted for a car and two motorbikes. Joining in the draw were Salim Ibrahim, Senior Manager – Retail Sales and Thankachan Varghese, Senior Manager – Retail Support.

Nawaf Saad, 63-year-old Saudi Arabian national based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, won a Mercedes Benz S500 (Mojave Silver) car, with ticket number 0691 in Finest Surprise Series 1843, which he purchased online on June 21.

Born and raised in Jeddah, Saad is a regular participant in Dubai Duty Free's promotion since 2020 and is no stranger to winning with Dubai Duty Free as he also previously won a Mercedes Benz CLS 53 4M AMG (Obsidian Black Metallic) car, with ticket number 0108 in Finest Surprise Series 1808 in June 2022.

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