Taiwo Popoola
The United States government has charged the founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, Allen Onyema with obstruction of justice in a new indictment.
Onyema was accused of submitting false documents to halt an investigation into earlier bank fraud and money laundering charges.
The airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, is also charged for his role in the obstruction and previous bank fraud schemes.
The US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia in a statement on Friday said on 8 October 2024, they were both charged in a superseding indictment alleging an additional count of obstruction of justice and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said the Air Peace CEO allegedly used his airline as a front for fraudulent activities targeting the U.S. banking system.
Buchanan also alleged that when the investigation into the actions intensified, both Onyema and Eghagha reportedly tried to obstruct justice by presenting falsified documents.
“After allegedly using his airline company as a cover to commit fraud on the United States banking system, Onyema, along with his co-defendant, allegedly committed additional crimes of fraud in a failed attempt to derail the government’s investigation of his conduct,”
“The diligence of our federal investigative partners revealed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, making it possible for the defendants to be held accountable for their aggravated conduct of attempting to impede a federal investigation,” he said.
Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, Atlanta Division, Robert J. Murphy, stressed the DEA’s commitment to holding individuals accountable for fraud and money laundering.
Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Special Agent Lisa Fontanette added that the superseding indictment reflects the persistent efforts of law enforcement to dismantle criminal threats, especially through task forces like the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).
The charges stem from Onyema’s alleged involvement in a scheme where, between 2010 and 2018, he transferred over $44.9 million from foreign sources into his U.S. bank accounts.
Beginning in May 2016, he and Eghagha reportedly used falsified export letters of credit to transfer more than $20 million into Onyema’s U.S. accounts under the guise of purchasing Boeing 737 aircraft for Air Peace.
However, the documents supporting the transactions were allegedly fake and Springfield Aviation, the company involved, was reportedly owned by Onyema and had no real connection to aviation.
In 2019, when Onyema learnt he was under investigation, he and Eghagha allegedly conspired to submit a backdated contract to U.S. authorities to mislead the investigation and unfreeze bank accounts.
Onyema and Eghagha were first indicted in November 2019 on charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, multiple counts of bank fraud, credit application fraud, and money laundering.
The recent indictment adds charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The case remains under investigation, and both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
