A cause that i love is covering petty fees and fines for others something we have done at the Causevest Network but seeing Firoz take it to another level is inspiring.Firoz Merchant has paid to get more than 20,000 debtors people out of prison. People who lost a job, bounced a cheque, missed a visa renewal(a friend of mine recently) and ended up in a UAE jail with no way to pay and no ticket home. Since 2008 he has spent about AED 25 million . That is the story Causevest wants to highlight, and why he will be nominated for our Altruistic Entrepreneur award.
From the chawls of Mumbai
Merchant was 1 of 9 children. His father was a struggling property broker, and Merchant left school at 11 to work in the family business. He arrived in Dubai in 1989 with no capital and started trading gold bars in Murshid Bazaar with 2 employees. The first Pure Gold retail store opened in 1998. By 2018 the group had 157 stores in 9 countries, 5,000 staff and a valuation of about $1 billion. It now has more than 170 outlets.
https://gulfbusiness.com/golden-touch-pure-gold-group-chairman-firoz-merchant/
The Forgotten Society
- 2008: The financial crisis hits Dubai. Workers and businessmen are jailed over unpaid debts and bounced cheques. Merchant founds the Forgotten Society.
- 2011: 335 prisoners flown home in 6 months. The debts ranged from AED 6,000 to AED 55,000. He spent AED 530,000 plus AED 420,000 to the Abu Dhabi Zakat Fund.
- 2017: 10,940 prisoners freed and AED 15 million spent. The Minister of Interior awards him the Community Service Medal, the first ever given to an expatriate.
- 2018: 560 prisoners released in April alone for AED 650,000. Total passes 15,000, including 5,000 from Ajman Central Jail.
- 2019: 700 prisoners freed to mark UAE National Day. Abu Dhabi Police gives him the Commander in Chief’s Excellence Award. He receives permanent residency.
- 2022: On 2 January the UAE decriminalises bounced cheques, 14 years after he started.
- 2024: AED 1 million frees more than 900 prisoners: 495 in Ajman, 170 in Fujairah, 121 in Dubai, 69 in Umm Al Quwain, 28 in Ras Al Khaimah.
- 2025: 2,972 prisoners from more than 50 nationalities released, with AED 2.4 million put towards their debts.
- February 2026: Total passes 20,000. 497 released so far this year.
The maths is the point. AED 25 million across 20,000 people is roughly AED 1,250 a head. Many of these people had finished their sentence and were still locked up because they couldn’t pay a fine or a flight. A few thousand dirhams was the whole difference between a cell and a family.
How it works
Merchant does not pick the prisoners. Police and correctional authorities in each emirate shortlist genuine debt cases, he clears the eligible debts and fines, and he pays for the air ticket home. He has also funded the Faraj Fund and other endowments that do the same job. He meets some of the people he helps. His view hasn’t changed in 15 years: “These people are not criminals.”
In 2011 he put it this way: “We are all human and make mistakes.” In 2026, asked what he gets out of it: “If someone returns home to their family because a debt was cleared, that is enough.”
Beyond the prison gate
In 2025 he gave more than AED 1 million to the Dubai Charity Association to cover dialysis and medical costs for 11 kidney patients who had no other support. For 2026 he has committed AED 500,000 to AED 700,000 for cancer patients, rising to AED 1 million if needed. He funds hand pumps and clean water in villages in developing countries, meal packages for shift workers in Mumbai, and scholarships for Emirati women at the University of Fujairah and Ajman University. He also plans a mosque in each of the 7 emirates.
Was he recognised?
Yes, and properly. Unlike many altruistic entrepreneurs, Merchant was credited by the state he was helping: a ministerial medal in 2017, the Abu Dhabi Police award in 2019, a Ministry of Interior citation in 2020 and permanent residency. The authorities worked with him from the start, and officials say so on the record.
The quieter fact is what came after. For 14 years the police were acting as debt collectors and one jeweller was paying the bill. In 2022 the law changed and bounced cheques stopped being a crime. Merchant never claimed credit for that. But 20,000 released prisoners is a very long argument, and eventually it was heard.
Business as a force for good
This is not a man signing cheques to a gala. Merchant found a group nobody was counting, worked out the exact price of their freedom, and paid it, year after year, in partnership with the people who held the keys. He identified a problem others overlooked and built a practical solution that restores dignity, reunites families and gives people another go. As he wrote himself: “if you do good it always comes back to you.”
At Causevest, we believe entrepreneurs who put their resources to work for the greater good deserve recognition. Firoz Merchant will be nominated for our Altruistic Entrepreneur Award, celebrating business leaders who use their success to create meaningful, positive change.
Everyone and everything deserves love.