Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip star Ochuko Ojiri is facing jail after admitting selling £138,150 of artworks to a suspected financier for Hezbollah.
Ojiri, 53, who has been a regular on the BBC shows for several years, did eight deals with Nazem Ahmad between October 2020 and January 2022.
When making the trades, he knew Ahmad had been sanctioned by the US as a suspected financier for the Lebanon-based terrorist group, with money allegedly coming through the trade of blood diamonds.
Ojiri, who has a London-based gallery, initially denied knowing about Ahmad’s notoriety, but later admitted he had made the deals for “excitement and kudos”.
At Westminster magistrates court on Friday, Ojiri appeared in the dock to plead guilty to eight charges of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The court heard he has been under investigation by the Metropolitan Police for two years before charges were brought.
“Nazem Ahmad is a suspected terrorist financier and at the time of the business relationship between them it was directly within the knowledge of the defendant that Ahmad had been sanctioned as a terrorist financier of Hezbollah by the United States”, a CPS summary presented to the court set out.
“At the time of the transactions there was a significant amount of material available capable of being obtained through internet searches showing that Ahmad was a person with links to the ‘blood diamond’ trade and terrorist financing of Hezbollah.”
Detectives found Ojiri had looked up news reports about Mr Ahmad and his terrorist links on his mobile phone, and discussed the situation with others. However he had failed to declare the link to the authorities.
“Despite this knowledge the defendant commenced and maintained a business relationship with Ahmad amounting to the sale of works of art to the value of £138,150 across nine transactions”, said prosecutors.
“(He) dealt directly with Nazem Ahmad in negotiating the sales and subsequently congratulated him on successful purchases.”
The court heard art work traded by Ojiri were sent to Dubai and Beirut.
The art dealer first appeared on screens in the BBC show Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, before becoming a regular on BBC One’s Bargain Hunt.
He launched the London-based Ramp Gallery, which champions emerging artists, and later changed the name to the Ojiri Gallery.
He was first arrested in April 2023 by counter terrorism officers, and gave a prepared statement denying supporting terrorist activity and claiming to have been unaware of Ahmad’s notoriety.
But in a second interview in July 2023 he admitted knowing about the sanctions when entering the business deals.
He told detectives links with Ahmad were seen as a “great accolade” due to his reputation in the art trade, he “claimed that he was sorry for what he had done”, and he said “excitement and kudos of dealing with a ‘name’ in the collecting world” were behind his actions, rather than greed.
Ojiri is the first person to be charged this type of offence after changes were made to bring in more scrutiny of money exchanges in the art world.
District Judge Briony Clarke sent Ojiri’s case to the Old Bailey for sentencing. He has been released on bail until the next hearing on June 6.
