A former bargaining arts expert has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison He sold to an alleged Hezbollah financier for failing to declare the art.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Dorcorism Act 2000, failing to disclose disclosures in the commercial process during the first prosecution Before the sentencing at Old Bailey on Friday. Hezbollah is a group banned by the UK as a terrorist organization.

Judge Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri had realized that the art he sold was Nazem Ahmad, who was approved by U.S. authorities in 2019.

"These crimes are so serious that only the sentence of detention can prove reasonable," she said.

She said there is no evidence that Aogiri supports any form of extremism, but his actions undermine the discovery of terrorist financing.

Gavin Irwin, who represents Ojiri, said the art expert’s “humiliation is complete” and the star lost “his good name” and “the job he loves.”

"He wants to apologize for undermining the trust in the art market," Irving said.

CDR Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, said profiting from individuals with terrorist funds is a very serious matter.

He added: “Raising funds for terrorism is a central part of how terrorist organizations can cause harm worldwide.”

So, how did an art expert who appeared on British daytime TV mix in Hezbollah’s funding?

Financial investigators working in Scotland Yard specializing in counter-terrorism departments have been tracking a series of suspicious transactions between the Middle East and London.

They worked with HMRC and colleagues in the Arts & Antiques division of Metropolitan Police to focus on nine payments made by a man named Nazem Ahmad in 2020 and 2021.

He was approved by U.S. authorities in 2019 because he was considered the largest donor to Hezbollah Lebanon's Shia Muslim political and military groups, supported by Iran and banned by the United States and the United Kingdom as a terrorist organization.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Hezbollah used Ahmad, who has Lebanon's Bergian nationality, who "laundered a large amount of money for terrorist organizations."

It claims Ahmad has long been linked to the illegal trade of "blood diamonds", which refers to diamonds that sometimes used to fund armed conflict and insurgency.

U.S. authorities have provided a $10 million reward for information about Ahmed, who is still in Lebanon.

U.S. authorities say Ahmad, 60, owns a huge work of art worth millions of pounds, has opened an art gallery in his hometown of Beirut as a front for money laundering.

Ahmad paid nearly £140,000 in work from London to Dubai and Beirut, a deal found by British police showed.

He bought them from Ojiri, which included £20,000 paintings by Icelandic artist Baldur Helgason.

Ojiri founded the ramp gallery in Ojiri Gallery in east London.

In his appearance in the BBC series, he made his appearance in the mouth of the public before reaching a huge bargaining time in 2019.

In 2021, he joined the Antique Road Trip, where he searched for treasures from antique shops, competed to make money at auctions, and always wore his trademark hat.

By this time, he had sold several secretly sold artworks to Hezbollah financiers.

Although he carefully turned Ahmed's name out, officials from the State Terror Finance Investigation Department tracked the money to Ogiri and arrested him in April 2023.

On the same day, the Ministry of Finance approved Ahmed and banned him from traveling to the UK.

U.S. authorities have also accused Ahmed of deceiving U.S. and foreign governments, laundering money and sanctions evasion, claiming that the companies he contacted have engaged in financial transactions worth more than $400 million between 2020 and 2022.

As part of the U.S. case, Metropolitan Police arrested a man living in Hayes, West London for extradition to the U.S. Sundar Nagarajan, who is now awaiting trial in New York, is accused of serving as an accountant and consultant to Ahmed.

At first, Ochuko Ojiri refused to answer police questions, but in a prepared statement he said he had no reason to believe Ahmed was a terrorist and money launderer.

But the evidence caught from his phone shows that he has studied who Ahmed is and knows he has received US approval. A colleague even sent a message warning him not to do business with Ahmed.

His arrest was reported after people who would work in the art market were brought into regulated departments in 2019, meaning they were bound by anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures to report suspicious transactions or face prosecution.

Ojiri said he was sorry for what he did and told police that he wanted to grow his business.

He denies the motivation to be greedy and says it is the honor of dealing with the name in the collectible world. Ahmad's Instagram account had 200,000 followers at the time and was seen as a social media influencer in the art world.

Ojiri is part of the 2000 Terrorism Act, which has never been used. Police hope it will send clear messages to those doing business in the art world.

"You will need to make sure you are doing due diligence," CDR Murphy said.

Last year, the state criminal agency issued an amber alert warning that criminals could use the artwork’s storage facilities to “seek capital assets that can be safely stored that can be appreciated over time and liquidated when needed”.

Subsequently, 23 paintings, worth nearly £1 million, were seized from warehouses and an auction house in London. The art, which includes works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, belongs to Ahmad.

As the proceeds of crime and funds raised will be sold soon at auction, it will be used to fight crime.