A new twist in the The Family case! According to Le Parisien, officers from the Brigade for the Repression of Clever Crime (BRDA) arrested Oussama Ammar, co-founder of the renowned Parisian incubator, on Wednesday, February 26. The entrepreneur, who has lived in Dubai for three years, is said to have been apprehended at Nice airport upon his return to France. He was placed in police custody on charges of "abuse of trust" and "forgery and use of forged documents," an accusation confirmed by a source close to the case. He was reportedly released the following Thursday.
This version is disputed by Ammar himself. In a post published on LinkedIn on Thursday evening, Oussama Ammar stated that he spent only "four hours in a police station" and was released "after a few questions." He expressed satisfaction with being able to "present (his) side of the story" and saw this as "the first time (he) had the opportunity to speak."
Oussama Ammar accused of misappropriating The Family's funds by former partners
Regardless, the investigation is ongoing. His former partners accuse him of embezzling €4.5M. Alice Zagury and Nicolas Colin co-founded The Family with Oussama Ammar in 2011. They claim he used company funds for personal purposes.
Specifically, five years ago, The Family raised several million euros with plans to invest in several American tech giants. However, these funds are said not to have been used for purchasing shares in companies like SpaceX or Airbnb. According to Alice Zagury and Nicolas Colin, the money was instead used to fund companies owned by Oussama Ammar. During this time, Ammar reportedly bought a hotel complex, "Le Domaine d'Ablon," in Normandy. They claim this purchase was made with The Family’s funds. As a result, they have initiated four lawsuits against Ammar across the globe. The first is in the UK, where two procedures are currently ongoing, and another is in the Cayman Islands. After initially being convicted and appealing the decision in the latter jurisdiction, Ammar now faces damages exceeding 7 million euros.
Despite these legal proceedings, Oussama Ammar had shared with us months ago the details of his new project, The Labyrinth, a fully remote and English-language accelerator. He also announced on social media that he would be in Paris on March 7th for a dinner with entrepreneurs he advises.
