BBC Bargain Hunt expert to challenge sentence for sales to ‘Hezbollah financier’

A BBC Bargain Hunt art expert who was jailed after failing to report a series of high-value art sales to a man suspected of financing militant group Hezbollah is set to have a bid to appeal against his sentence heard later this month.

Oghenochuko Ojiri sold artwork worth around £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese organisation.

The 53-year-old was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and a further year on licence in June after admitting eight offences under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000, making him the first person believed to have been charged with the specific offence.

Ojiri is now seeking to appeal against his sentence, with court listings showing that the challenge will be heard at the Court of Appeal in London on October 29.

The art dealer, of Brent, north London, has appeared on a number of BBC shows including Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip as a freelance presenter, and is understood not to have worked on BBC programmes since 2023.

Prosecutors claimed that following the introduction of new money laundering regulations in January 2020, which brought the art market under HMRC supervision, Ojiri discussed the changes with a colleague, indicating awareness of the rules.

He was later charged with failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market sector on or before dates between October 2020 and December 2021.

At that time, Ojiri was the owner and operator of Ramp Gallery, later the Ojiri Gallery, prosecutor Lyndon Harris told the Old Bailey.

A previous hearing was told that Ojiri knew that Mr Ahmad, who was understood to be based in Beirut, had been sanctioned in the US.

US prosecutors say Mr Ahmad was a “major Hezbollah financial donor” who used high-value art and diamonds to launder money and fund the group.

He is accused of evading terrorism sanctions by using front companies to acquire more than 160 million dollars (£120 million) in artwork and diamond services.

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 banned as a terrorist group since 2019.

Lawyers for Ojiri said he was arrested while filming a BBC TV programme, and that he has “lost the work he loves” and was “preyed on by more sophisticated others”.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb 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”.