Pakistani engineer wins 1kg gold in Dubai

DUBAI (Web Desk) - An aircraft technician with Emirates Airline has hit the jackpot by winning one kilogram gold in a special promotion campaign, which saw 20 lucky winners walk away with 100 grams of gold each.

Mohammed Siraj Ahsan had sent money to his family several times while Money Majlis campaign was being held by UAE Exchange. “I have been sending money to many of my family members who live in Pakistan. I don’t remember for which transaction I got this, but I will use this 1kg gold as savings for my children. They are equally thrilled by the prize,” Ahsan told the Emirates 24|7.

Among those who won 100 grams of gold each are two UAE nationals. The others hail from India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Vietnam, Kenya and Pakistan.

Customers who used the service between June 15, 2015 and July 29, 2015 were eligible for the scheme. The exchange has a customer base of over 7.9 million spread over 31 countries.

An employee of Union Co-operative, who a won 100 gram gold coin, said, “I send Dh2,000 to my family in Kenya and won this gold coin. I went to a jewelry outlet in the Gold Souq and checked the value of the coin. I am happy to get this coin worth more than Dh10,000 which will be used for my family in Kenya.”

“Earlier, when we had few branches and about 50 staff, it used to take at least a week to get the draft delivered to a customer’s home country. But, now before leaving the counter, our customers get alerts on their mobile phones saying their beneficiary has received the money. Initially we used to give Mercedez cars as prizes, but now with more customers, we have switched over to gifts like gold,” said Varghese Mathew, Country Head of UAE Exchange.

Customers can participate in such schemes form the remittance firms’ Facebook page or their official website.