BBC Bargain Hunt star Ochuko Ojiri jailed for terrorist financing

The Bargain Hunt star has been sentenced at the Old Bailey (Picture: BBC/Met) Bargain Hunt star Ochuko Ojiri has been jailed for failing to report a series of high-value art sales to a man suspected of being a Hezbollah financier. The art dealer, 53, pleaded guilty to eight counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business. He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to two and a half years jail time, with a further year on licence, after selling artwork worth around £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese organisation. Ojiri has made regular appearances on the BBC programme as well as Antiques Road Trip. The 53-year-old, from west London, was charged following an investigation into terrorist financing by officers from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU), part of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, a Met Police statement reveals. He is the first person to be charged with a specific offence under Section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. The art dealer pleaded guilty to eight counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 (Picture: Getty)

BBC Bargain Hunt star Ochuko Ojiri jailed for terrorist financing
The Bargain Hunt star has been sentenced at the Old Bailey (Picture: BBC/Met)

Bargain Hunt star Ochuko Ojiri has been jailed for failing to report a series of high-value art sales to a man suspected of being a Hezbollah financier.

The art dealer, 53, pleaded guilty to eight counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business.

He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to two and a half years jail time, with a further year on licence, after selling artwork worth around £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese organisation.

Ojiri has made regular appearances on the BBC programme as well as Antiques Road Trip.

The 53-year-old, from west London, was charged following an investigation into terrorist financing by officers from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU), part of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, a Met Police statement reveals.

He is the first person to be charged with a specific offence under Section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The art dealer pleaded guilty to eight counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 (Picture: Getty)