PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) presenter has pleaded guilty to financial terror offences linked to the terrorist group Hezbollah.
👥 Who’s Involved: Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, Hezbollah, Nazem Ahmad, Metropolitan Police.
📍 Where & When: London, England on May 9.
💬 Key Quote: “Nazem Ahmad is a suspected terrorist financier and at the time of the business relationship between them it was directly within the knowledge of the defendant that Ahmad had been sanctioned as a terrorist financier of Hezbollah by the United States.” — The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
⚠️ Impact: The case is just the latest to see a BBC presenter pleading guilty to serious crimes in the United Kingdom.
IN FULL:
A Nigerian-British television star and art dealer has pleaded guilty to financial terrorism offences linked to the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah following a police probe. Oghenochuko ‘Ochuko’ Ojiri, who starred in the BBC program Bargain Hunt, admitted to eight counts of “failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector” on May 9.
The guilty plea came just a day after Ojiri was charged by prosecutors in London for the offences between October 2020 and December 2021. London’s Metropolitan police said that the charges stemmed from Ojiri’s relationship with a man named Nazem Ahmad, who is suspected of being a source of funding for Hezbollah.
Ahmad, a dual citizen of Belgium and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based, has previously been sanctioned by both the United Kingdom and the United States due to his links to the terror group. Ojiri sold art worth around $186,000 to Ahmad.
“Nazem Ahmad is a suspected terrorist financier and at the time of the business relationship between them it was directly within the knowledge of the defendant that Ahmad had been sanctioned as a terrorist financier of Hezbollah by the United States,” the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Sentencing for Ojiri is expected next month. So far, the BBC has yet to comment on the case, claiming that any comment would not be appropriate.
The case is just the latest to see a BBC personality prosecuted for serious crimes in recent months. Last year, former lead BBC news anchor Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children. Edwards, once the highest-paid news anchor at the BBC, was known worldwide for announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
In Australia, another BBC personality was jailed last August for ten years for raping and killing dozens of dogs. pleading guilty to 56 charges of bestiality and animal cruelty the year prior.