British-Nigerian art dealer Ochuko Ojiri pleads guilty to funding terrorism offences

A British-Nigerian art expert, Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, has admitted to financing terrorism for failing to report a series of high-value art sales to a man sanctioned for alleged links to the Hezbollah terrorist group.

Ojiri is a 53-year-old London-based gallery owner who has appeared on BBC's Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip and Channel 5’s Storage: Flog the Lot!

He was docked at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 9, 2025, where he pleaded guilty to eight-count charges of failing to disclose suspicious transactions under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The case stands as the legacy prosecution of its kind under this specific provision of the Act.

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Prosecutors detailed how Ojiri sold £140,000 worth of artworks to Lebanese collector Nazem Ahmad between October 2020 and December 2021.

Ahmad, who is under a sanction, has been accused by the US and UK governments of funding Lebanon-based proscribed group Hezbollah, and was linked to the scheme dubbed “blood diamond” trade, which allegedly finances armed conflicts.

“There is one discussion where Ojiri is party to a conversation where it is apparent a lot of people have known for years about [Ahmad’s] terrorism links,” prosecutor Lyndon Harris said.

The prosecution explained that although Ramp Gallery—founded by Ojiri and now operating as the Ojiri Gallery in East London—had sought compliance advice, “the advice given was not properly acted on.”

Harris told the court that Ojiri “dealt with Mr Ahmad directly, negotiated the sales of artwork and congratulated him on purchases.”

How Ojiri failed to flag the suspicious transaction

Despite widespread online reports about Ahmad's links to terrorism, the British-Nigerian failed to notify the authorities, thereby running foul of the counterterrorism financing laws.

The Lebanese was sanctioned by the US in 2019 and later by the UK government in April 2023, leading to the freezing of his assets and a prohibition on doing business with him or his companies.

Ojiri was arrested on the same day the UK sanctions came into effect. At the time, the UK government described Ahmad as maintaining “an extensive art collection in the UK” and conducting business with “multiple UK-based artists, art galleries and auction houses.”

The investigation was led by the Metropolitan Police’s specialist Arts and Antiques Unit, supported by HMRC and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). The anti-terror laws described failure to report suspicions of terrorist financing as a criminal offence.

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Prosecutors said Ojiri confessed to knowing who Ahmad was and told the police he didn't support terrorism. He claimed that money was not his motive, but rather the “excitement and kudos” of working with a high-profile collector.

District Judge Briony Clarke granted bail to the art dealer on the condition that he surrender his passport, even though his lawyer, Gavin Irwin, told the court he was not a flight risk.

The court has set June 6, 2025, for sentencing at the Old Bailey.