A BBC Bargain Hunt art dealer has admitted failing to report high-value sales to a man suspected of financing terrorist group Hezbollah.
Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, pleaded guilty to eight offences under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000 during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
The art dealer, who has also appeared on Antiques Road Trip, was charged with failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market sector between October 2020 and December 2021.
The legislation makes it an offence to not alert police if someone knows or suspects a business associate of being involved in financing a proscribed group.
Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said Ojiri sold artwork to Nazem Ahmed, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese militant group.
“At the time of the transactions, Mr Ojiri knew Mr Ahmed had been sanctioned in the US,” Mr Harris told the court.
“Mr Ojiri accessed news reports about Mr Ahmed’s designation and engaged in discussions with others about his designation.
“There is one discussion where Mr Ojiri is party to a conversation where it is apparent a lot of people have known for years about his terrorism links.”
The prosecutor said that Ojiri “dealt with Mr Ahmed directly, negotiated the sales of artwork and congratulated him on those sales”.
Ojiri was charged on Thursday following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s specialist arts and antiques unit, alongside the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and HMRC.
New money laundering regulations introduced in January 2020 brought the art market under HMRC supervision, and Ojiri is said to have discussed the changes with a colleague, indicating awareness of the rules.
The court heard the total value of the artwork sold was around £140,000.
The prosecution added the art was sent to Dubai, the UAE and Beirut.
District Judge Briony Clarke granted bail but ordered Ojiri to surrender his passport and not to apply for international travel documents.
Ojiri will be sentenced at the at the Old Bailey on 6 June.
Gavin Irwin, mitigating, told the court: “He is not a flight risk.
“The fact that he is here – he has left the UK and has always returned knowing he may be charged with offences – he will be here on the next occasion.”
