Latest news with #OgheneochukoOjiri
Times
09-05-2025
- Times
Bargain Hunt's Ochuko Ojiri admits not reporting sales to ‘Hezbollah backer'
An art dealer who is an expert on the BBC show Bargain Hunt has admitted failing to report art sales to a man suspected of financing Hezbollah. Westminster magistrates' court heard that Ogheneochuko Ojiri, 53, from west London, sold artwork worth about £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad. Lyndon Harris, for the prosecution, told the court that the art dealer, who joined the Bargain Hunt team in 2019, knew that Ahmad had been sanctioned in the US as a suspected financier for the Lebanese militant group at the time of the transactions. On Friday, Ojiri pleaded guilty to eight offences of failing to disclose information about transactions in the regulated art market sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. The offences were committed between
Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Bargain Hunt's Ochuko Ojiri charged with terrorist financing
An art dealer who is an expert on the BBC show Bargain Hunt has been charged with terrorist financing. Ogheneochuko Ojiri, 53, from west London, has been charged after an investigation into terrorist financing by officers from the national terrorist financial investigation unit, part of the Met's counterterrorism command. He has been charged with eight counts of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. The charges relate to a period from October 2020 to December 2021. Ojiri, who joined the Bargain Hunt team in 2019, is the first person to be charged with the specific offence. He is due to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on Friday. On a
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Telegraph
Bargain Hunt art dealer charged with terror offences
An art dealer who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt television programme has been charged as part of an investigation into terrorist financing. Ogheneochuko Ojiri, 53, who is a regular expert on the daytime entertainment show, has been charged with eight offences and is due to appear before Westminster magistrates' court on Friday. The charges follow an investigation by detectives from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU), which is part of Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command. Mr Ojiri has been charged with eight counts of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. The charges relate to a period from October 2020 to December 2021 and he is the first person to be charged with a specific offence under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000. Detectives from the arts and antiques unit of London's Metropolitan Police, specialists from the Treasury and officers from the art section of HMRC also assisted with the investigation. Mr Ojiri, who runs his own art gallery, also appears on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip as one of its resident experts. He began his career in antiquities with a vintage shop in Dalston, east London. He later opened The Ojiri Gallery in Shoreditch, specialising in contemporary art.
