UK art dealer jailed for selling to Hezbollah financier

TV art expert Oghenochuko Ojiri plead guilty over the sales, which violated UK terror laws and sanctions on Hezbollah financier Nazem Ahmed.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A prominent British art dealer was sentenced to prison for selling artworks totaling some $190,000 to a Hezbollah financier, in violation of UK terrorism laws.

Oghenochuko Ojiri pleaded guilty to eight charges, including failing to report the sales to authorities, and was sentenced on Friday to two and a half years imprisonment.

Ojiri, 53, is a well-known art expert in the UK, who has appeared on TV shows including the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip and Bargain Hunt, where he appraised the value of paintings and other artwork.

According to the indictment, Ojiri sold multiple paintings to Hezbollah financier Nazem Ahmed between October 2020 and December 2021.

Prosecutors revealed in court that Ojiri was aware that Ahmed, who is under sanctions by both the U.S. and UK, was a problematic client.

Ojiri had researched Ahmed and discovered his links to Hezbollah, as well as learning that he was under sanctions and therefore knew it would be illegal to do business with him.

A colleague in the art world also reached out to warn Ojiri and told him not to sell works to Ahmed, the BBC reported.

“You knew about Ahmad’s suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said during the sentencing hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court.

Noting that Ojiri would serve an additional year on license – a British form of probation in which the released prisoner can face additional time incarcerated, should they commit crimes during that period – Cheema-Grubb stressed that it was critical for Ojiri to continue on a law-abiding path.

“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,” she said.