Oghenochuko Ojiri, of West London, United Kingdom, has bagged two years and six months in jail for terrorism crime linked to an alleged Hezbollah financier.
Investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, in partnership with the U.S. Homeland Security, revealed that the 53-year-old, an art dealer, made sales worth £140,000 to a suspected Hezbollah financier, Nazem Ahmad, from Lebanon.
Mr Ahmad is a wealthy art collector.
He was sentenced after pleading guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 9, 2025, to eight counts of failing to make a disclosure while in the business from October 2020 to December 2021, thereby violating section 21A of the country’s Terrorism Act 2000.
Analysis of sales of art by Mr Ojiri, revealed that eight purchases were completed without Mr Ahmad’s name which the defendant was aware that the sale was being conducted for him and on his behalf.
WhatsApp messages on the defendant’s phone from January 31, 2020, also showed him discussing the new money laundering regulations with a colleague and that he was aware of the financial sanctions by the U.S. Treasury against Ahmad due to his suspected involvement in high-level financing of Hizballah.
The convict, who apologised during interrogation by the police, denied that his involvement was motivated by money or greed but by the excitement of dealing with a ‘name’ in the art collecting world.
Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, Dominic Murphy said, “Oghenochuko Ojiri wilfully obscured the fact he knew he was selling artwork to Nazem Ahmad, someone who has been sanctioned by the UK and US Treasury and described as a funder of the proscribed terrorist group Hizballah.”
Additionly, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division, Bethan David, noted that Oghenochuko Ojiri was aware of the new money laundering regulations in the art world and that he had knowledge of Mr Ahmad’s background.
“Ojiri engaged in activity designed to conceal the identity of the true purchaser by changing the details on invoices and storing Mr Ahmad’s name under a different alias in his mobile phone.
“His motivation appears to be financial along with a broader desire to boost his gallery’s reputation within the art market by dealing with such a well-known collector. This prosecution is believed to be the first of its kind, and the CPS will not hesitate to bring criminal charges against individuals who flout the law in this way,” Mr David explained.
