DOHA: A local charity has come to the aid of three Qataris, including a woman, who had taken huge loans for businesses that flopped.
RAF (Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services) has launched a drive to collect QR1.5m ($412,000) to repay the collective debts of the trio.
One of the three Qataris is in jail for his failure to repay a debt of QR370,000. He had raised the sum through a bank loan to start a business which flopped.
Jail officials said the man had quit smoking, performed the daily prayers and was reforming himself in a big way, said Yahya Al Nuaimi, deputy CEO for local projects at RAF.
The woman owes QR543,240 to a bank and some individuals and companies, and since she is unable to repay the debt she faces legal action and can land in prison.
She had begun a car rental business with the money raised through loans and the business failed.
The third debtor must repay loans totalling QR585,000, which he had taken to invest in a business which fizzled out.
Al Nuaimi said that RAF helped Qatari nationals in debt provided they had taken the loans to carry out activities that did not breach Islamic tenets.
Another condition is that they must not have gone to jail in the past for their failure to fulfil their financial commitments.
THE PENINSULA
