Court finds Family group co-founder Oussama Ammar in contempt over freezing order breaches

The Business and Property Courts have found Oussama Ammar, a co-founder of the venture investment group known as The Family, in contempt of court after breaching a worldwide freezing order and providing dishonest sworn evidence during long-running litigation with his former associates.

Handing down judgement on 22 September 2026 in The Family (Holdings) Limited & Ors v Oussama Ammar & Anor [2026] EWHC 2433 (Comm), HHJ Halliwell, sitting as a High Court judge, found Mr Ammar in contempt on five of the seven grounds pursued at trial, while dismissing others and striking out substantial portions of the claimants' case for procedural non-compliance.

The claimants, a group of investment vehicles Mr Ammar helped establish alongside Alice Zagury and Nicolas Colin, allege he exploited his former directorships to misappropriate investor funds and secretly acquire shares in a target company. Judgement on liability was entered in the claimants' favour in July 2024 after the defendants failed to comply with an unless order, and David Elvin KC subsequently assessed damages at £6,488,497.92 in March 2025.

The contempt proceedings concerned separate conduct: alleged breaches of a worldwide freezing injunction first granted in June 2023, and false statements made in Mr Ammar's sworn affirmations. The claimants had originally pursued contempt findings against both Mr Ammar and his company, Fabuleo Limited, but abandoned the claim against Fabuleo before trial.

Mr Ammar, who resides in Dubai, did not attend the two-day trial despite a court order requiring his personal attendance, though he had instructed solicitors and counsel shortly before proceedings began after roughly eighteen months without legal representation. HHJ Halliwell rejected submissions that the trial should not proceed in his absence, noting he had been aware of the hearing date and attendance requirement for several months.

The judgement found that Mr Ammar breached the freezing order by diverting income from business ventures, including ones styled "Travel with Ouss" and "Better Call Ouss", to fund personal expenses, and by incurring a liability of over €2,600 for a stay at a luxury hotel on the French Riviera outside the permitted exceptions. He was also found to have failed to provide required bank statements and to have concealed profit shares from two business ventures in a sworn witness statement.

On the false statement allegations, the court concluded that Mr Ammar had not honestly believed statements in his third affirmation asserting he was the sole holder and user of a debit card linked to a bank account, finding instead that he had permitted others, understood to include acquaintances in Ukraine, to use the card, and that the false impression created had materially interfered with the administration of justice.

However, the judge struck out significant parts of the contempt application, including an entire ground alleging failure to disclose living and business expenses, after finding the claimants had not adequately particularised the facts said to constitute the alleged contempts, as required under CPR 81.4(2)(h). The court declined to permit late amendments to cure the defects, citing the heightened standard of procedural fairness owed to respondents facing committal.

A separate ground alleging breaches connected to a related corporate entity, Daedalium LLC, failed on the evidence presented. Sentencing has been adjourned to a further public hearing, with the judge noting that all sentencing options, including a custodial term, remain open. Mr Ammar remains subject to the order requiring his personal attendance.