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A BBC Bargain Hunt art expert who failed to report a series of high-value art sales to a man suspected of financing the militant group Hezbollah has been jailed for two and a half years.
Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, sold artworks worth a total of about £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese organisation, a court hearing was told last month.
Ojiri, of Brent, north London, previously pleaded guilty to eight offences under section 21a of the Terrorism Act 2000. He is believed to be the first person to be charged with the specific offence.
The art dealer, who has also appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, was charged with failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market sector on or before dates between October 2020 and December 2021.
US prosecutors say Ahmad was a “major Hezbollah financial donor” who used high-value art and diamonds to launder money and fund the group.
Ahmad is accused of evading terrorism sanctions by using front companies to acquire more than $160m (£118m) in artwork and diamond services.
After the introduction of new money-laundering regulations in January 2020 that brought the art market under HMRC supervision, Ojiri is said to have discussed the changes with a colleague, indicating awareness of the rules.
The court previously heard the total value of the artworks sold was about £140,000.
Lyndon Harris, prosecuting, said the defendant was, at the relevant time, the owner and operator of Ramp Gallery, later known as Ojiri Gallery.
Ahmad is understood to be based in Beirut, the court heard.
Harris said: “The defendant engaged in discussions with and sales over a 14-month period with Nazem Ahmad and his associates, selling art to the value of £140,000 over that period.”
The defendant knew that US sanctions had been placed on Ahmad, a previous hearing was told. Ahmad’s phone number was saved on Ojiri’s phone as “Moss”, the court heard.
“[It] appears to have been a name deliberately chosen to disguise Mr Ahmad as being one of his contacts,” Harris said, adding that Ojiri was warned by others about his conduct “but proceeded to engage in dealings with Ahmad in any event”.
Gavin Irwin, defending, said Ojiri was arrested while filming a BBC TV programme.
He said: “He has lost the work he loves. He was arrested while filming a BBC television programme. He has already lost, of course, his good name; he was until recently a man of good character.”
Irwin said the defendant had been “naive” in relation to his participation in Ahmad’s art market, but that he was “preyed on by more sophisticated others”.
He also said the defendant had lost his business, accepted that he had done wrong, and wanted to “apologise for undermining trust in the industry” and “apologise for the distress that he has caused principally to those who know him, who love him, but also those who have supported him throughout his career”.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb sentenced Ojiri to two years and six months in prison at the Old Bailey on Friday, with a further year to be spent on licence.
She told Ojiri he had been involved in a commercial relationship “for prestige and profit” and that he had been “seeking the kudos of dealing with an eminent name in the dealing world”.
She added: “You knew about Ahmad’s suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him.”
Cheema-Grubb said that until these events he had been “someone to be admired”, and added: “This is the nadir – there is one direction your life can go and I am confident that you will not be in front of the courts again.”
The judge said the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified.
Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism command, said: “The prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind, and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, prosecute those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups.
“Oghenochuko Ojiri wilfully obscured the fact he knew he was selling artwork to Nazem Ahmad, someone who has been sanctioned by the UK and US treasury and described as a funder of the proscribed terrorist group Hizballah.
“Financial investigation is a crucial part of the counter-terrorism effort. A team of specialist investigators, analysts and researchers in the NTFIU [national terrorist financial investigation unit] work all year round to prevent money from reaching the hands of terrorists or being used to fund terrorist attacks.”
Ojiri has appeared on a number of BBC shows including Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip, and described himself as “absolutely obsessed” with collecting contemporary art in a BBC Q&A.
Ojiri has previously worked as an auctioneer and is known for championing African and European contemporary art.
Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political and militant group based in Lebanon, backed by Iran and known for its armed resistance against Israel.
In the UK, the entire organisation – both its military and political wings – has been proscribed as a terrorist group since 2019.
