A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison

Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000

Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court

LONDON: An art expert who appeared on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.

At a previous hearing, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales for about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the UK and US as a Hezbollah financier, took place between October 2020 and December 2021.

The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the UK or US from trading with Ahmad or his businesses.