Bargain Hunt expert jailed for selling art to suspected Hezbollah financier

A former Bargain Hunt art expert has been jailed for two years and six months for failing to declare art he sold to a suspected financier of Hezbollah.

In the first prosecution of its kind, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, admitted eight counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business before his sentencing at the Old Bailey on Friday. Hezbollah is a group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK.

Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri had been aware the art he had sold was to Nazem Ahmad, who had been sanctioned in 2019 by the US authorities.

"These offences are so severe that only a custodial sentence can be justified," she said.

"Your hard work, talent and charisma has brought you a great deal of success... you knew you should not have been dealing with that man."

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb added there was no evidence Ojiri supported any form of extremism but that his conduct undermined the detection of terrorist financing.

Gavin Irwin, representing Ojiri, said the art expert's "humiliation is complete" with the star losing "his good name" and the "work he loves."

"He'd like to apologise for undermining trust" in the art market, Mr Irwin said, adding Ojiri had been naïve.

Ojiri's motivation appeared "to be financial along with a broader desire to boost his gallery's reputation within the art market by dealing with such a well-known collector," said Bethan David, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division.

"This prosecution is believed to be the first of its kind, and the CPS will not hesitate to bring criminal charges against individuals who flout the law in this way."

So how did an art expert, famous for appearing on UK daytime television get mixed up in funding Hezbollah?

The Old Bailey heard UK law enforcement had been alerted to suspicious transactions linked to Mr Ahmad by their counterparts in the US.

Mr Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by US authorities because he is believed to be a top donor to Lebanon-based Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and military group, which is backed by Iran and banned as a terrorist organisation by the US and UK.

Hezbollah used Mr Ahmad, who has joint Lebanese-Belgian nationality, "to launder substantial amounts of money bound for the terrorist group", according to the US Treasury department.

It claims he has longstanding ties with the illegal trade in "blood diamonds."

US authorities are offering a $10m reward for information about Mr Ahmad, who is thought to still be in Lebanon.

Transactions uncovered by UK police showed he paid nearly £140,000 for works, which he had shipped from London to Dubai and Beirut.

He bought them from Ojiri, including a £20,000 painting by Icelandic artist Baldur Helgason.

On the same day the Treasury sanctioned Mr Ahmad and banned him from travelling to the UK.

The US authorities also charged Mr Ahmad with defrauding the US and foreign governments, money laundering and sanctions evasion, claiming companies connected to him had been engaged in more than $400m worth of financial transactions between 2020 and 2022.

As part of the American case, the Met police arrested a man living in Hayes, west London, for extradition to the US. Sundar Nagarajan is now awaiting trial in New York, accused of acting as Mr Ahmad's accountant and advisor.