Dubai Gold Tycoon Bails 4,500 Prisoners Out

 bailed out  inmates. photo credit: khaleej

The story of Firoz Merchant, chairman of Pure Gold Group, is one of rags to riches. The man, now a business tycoon, was born to a poor family with nine siblings, in Gujarat. Merchant joined his late father's small real-estate business after dropping out from school when he was 11.

And in his quest for attaining riches, Merchant has not forgotten the needy.

Till date, he has helped in securing the release of 4,500 prisoners languishing in various jails by clearing their debts. Now he plans to enhance the amount devoted for philanthropy to $1 million and bail out thousands more from not just UAE jails, but the wider GCC region.

At the moment, Firoz Merchant is busy personally interviewing more prisoners to make the next list for 2017.

"My first priority is to help prisoners in the UAE jails. Once this issue is properly addressed, I plan to look at other countries in the region. This year, $1 million is earmarked to bail out more prisoners from the UAE jails and in the next few weeks, a few hundred more prisoners will be released from Ajman, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujiarah," said Merchant, whose office has been bombarded with requests for help.

While majority of the prisoners are male earning members, he has come across some women and kids, too.

Source: Khaleejtimes.com