A British-Nigerian art expert, Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, who has appeared on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt, was today jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting to a terror charge. He sold £140,000 worth of artworks to Nazem Ahmad, a suspected Hezbollah backer.
Ochuko Ojiri has also appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip. He sold the works to Nazem Ahmad, a wealthy collector and diamond dealer who was under US sanctions.
Meanwhile, the art dealer bowed his head in the dock as the sentence was handed down at the Old Bailey. In addition to his custodial sentence, he was told he would serve one more year on licence.
The 53-year-old knew Ahmad’s background and sought to hide his links to him by doctoring invoices on the art sales and storing his name under an alias on his mobile phone, the court heard.
Prosecutors said The art dealer was motivated by greed and a desire to ‘boost the reputation’ of his business, the Shoreditch-based Ojiri Gallery, by ‘dealing with such a well-known collector’.
Today, police released images of invoices Ochuko Ojiri sent to Ahmad for the artwork. They included paintings, prints and a sculpture ranging in value from £2,250 to £20,000.
Ojiri earlier pleaded guilty to eight counts of failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market. These are contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. His crimes took place between October 2020 and December 2021.
Ochuko Ojiri was arrested in Wrexham on April 18, 2023 – at the same time he was filming for the BBC.
That same day, the UK Government announced their own sanctions against Ahmad, who is based in Lebanon.
Also, officers then raided two of Ahmad’s warehouses in Britain and seized £1 million of art, including paintings by Picasso and Andy Warhol.
Police today released pictures of the works. They will be sold and the profits reinvested back into law enforcement.
Furthermore, US officials believe Ahmad used high-value art and diamonds to launder money and raise funds for Hezbollah. They have offered $10 million for information on his whereabouts.
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