Air Peace CEO, Allen Onyma In Trouble As US Govt. Charges Him, Others For Fraud

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema has been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly submitting false documents to the United States Government which accordingly has filed more charges on the earlier $20 million bank fraud case against the CEO of Air Peace.

The US Government allege that the Nigerian businessman, Onyema has continue to evade trial in an American court in the last five years.

However, Mr Onyema has pointedly denied any wrongdoing even as he has been wanted in the US over bank fraud charges pending against him and a co-defendant at the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Atlanta since 2019.

The move was believed to have been carried out to put an end to an investigation into earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering.

Similarly, Ejiroghene Eghagha, Chief of Administration and Finance of Air Peace was also charged for participating in the obstruction scheme and the earlier bank fraud.

Speaking on the matter, Robert Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division, said the cases represent the continued commitment of the Drug Enforcement Administration to identify and hold accountable those who engaged in fraud and money laundering.

In the same vein, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Lisa Fontanette alleged that Onyema and his accomplices fraudulently used the U.S. banking system in an effort to hide the source of their ill-gotten money,” said.

This was as Steven Schrank, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security in Atlanta, said the charges announced, demonstrated the criticality of diligence and truth in criminal justice proceedings,

The US Attorney Office, Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement on Friday, October 11, 2024, said that both Onyema and Eghagha were both charged in a superseding indictment alleging an additional count of obstruction of justice and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice on October 8, 2024.

The office said Mr Onyema is being accused of “obstruction of justice for submitting false documents to the government in an effort to end an investigation of him that resulted in earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering.

The prosecutors said Onyema submitted false documents to US authorities in 2019 in an effort to stop the investigation and unfreeze his bank accounts regarding the alleged $20 million bank fraud.

This was just as Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace, Chief of Administration and Finance, who is a co-defendant to Mr Onyema in the case, is being accused of participating in the alleged obstruction scheme as well as in the earlier bank fraud counts.

According to US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan; “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”.

Onyema is still wanted in the United States following an alleged conspirator in the $20 million bank fraud case for which his alleged conspirator has been sentenced by an American court in September 2022 during which the US District Court sentenced Ebony Mayfield, an American woman, to three years’ probation for her roles in helping to facilitate the alleged fraud.

However, Mr Onyema has dismissed the new development in the case as a mere recycling of the same set of allegations, saying that his legal team would give a more formal response in due time.

Meanwhile, Onyema and Eghagha denied the charges in previous press statements, the latest being the one he issued through a Nigerian law firm after the court sentenced Ms Mayfield in September 2022.

The statement by A.O. Alegeh & Co law firm was however silent on the charges of fraud and money laundering against Mr Onyema and his co-defendant at the same court where Ms Mayfield was prosecuted.

They insist in the press statement that the fact that Ms Mayfield was not given any prison sentence, confinement or home detention by the court confirmed that there was no fraud in the $20 million deal.

They noted that the US government admitted in court today that no bank suffered any financial loss in the matter.

The statement also denied that Mr Onyema paid Ms Mayfield $20,000 for her roles in the alleged fraud, and insisted that “all steps taken in respect of the Letters of Credit were taken in good faith and with legitimate funds.

Statement further said; “All the aircraft involved were brought into Nigeria and utilised in the operations of Air Peace Limited. There was no victim. There was no loss of funds to any person and there was no criminal intent whatsoever”.

Onyema has vowed to defend his innocence in the US courts even though he and his co-defendant are yet to appear before the court to take their plea.