Allen Onyema, CEO Of Air Peace Indicted For Bank Fraud, Money Laundering In USA

In a
press release seen^[1] By
TheNigerialawyer on Friday night of November 22, 2019, the United
States Department of Justice indicted the Founder, Chairman, and
CEO of Air Peace, Mr Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, of bank fraud
and money laundering to the tune of more than $20 million (N7.2
billion). The Airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Mrs
Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged with bank fraud and
committing aggravated identity theft.

Per the report, Onyema is accused of moving more than $20
million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts, and this
was claimed to have been done through a “scheme involving false
documents based on the purchase of airplanes.”

The report further claimed that Air Peace’s Chief of
Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, “has also been
charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft in
connection with the scheme.”

Said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak of this charges:

“Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business
leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to
commit fraud. We will diligently protect the integrity our banking
system from being corrupted by criminals, even when they disguise
themselves in a cloak of international business.”

Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta
Field Division also commented on the indictment, saying:

“Allen Onyema’s status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be
a fraud. He corrupted the U.S. banking system, but his trail of
deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt. DEA would like to
thank the many law enforcement partners and the subsequent
prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office who aided in making this
investigation a success.

Thomas J. Holloman, the IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent
in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office, also said:

“This case is a prime example of why IRS-CI seeks to partner and
leverage its expertise in an effort to thwart those seeking to
exploit our nation’s financial system. With the importance of our
banking system to the movement of money around the world, those
attempting to use intricate schemes to commit bank fraud through
the use of falsified documents and other means should know that the
odds are now heavily stacked against them as law enforcement is
combining its talents to protect the sanctity and integrity of the
nation’s financial system.”

While the acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who
oversees HSI operations in Georgia and Alabama added:

“Onyema setup various innocent sounding multi-million dollar
asset purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his
scam. I’m proud to be part of a team of law enforcement agencies
that come together to identify and attack criminals that attempt to
profit from the exploitation of our nation’s financial
systems.”

The report further claimed:

Beginning in approximately May 2016, Onyema, together with
Eghagha, allegedly used a series of export letters of credit to
cause banks to transfer more than $20 million into Atlanta-based
bank accounts controlled by Onyema. The letters of credit were
purportedly to fund the purchase of five separate Boeing 737
passenger planes by Air Peace. The letters were supported by
documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale, and
appraisals proving that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from
Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a business registered in
Georgia.

However, the supporting documents were fake — Springfield
Aviation Company LLC, which is owned by Onyema and managed by a
person with no connection to the aviation business, never owned the
aircraft, and the company that allegedly drafted the appraisals did
not exist. Eghagha allegedly participated in this scheme as well,
directing the Springfield Aviation manager to sign and send false
documents to banks and even using the manager’s identity to further
the fraud. After Onyema received the money in the United States, he
allegedly laundered over $16 million of the proceeds of the fraud
by transferring it to other accounts.

Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, 56, of Lagos, Nigeria, and
Ejiroghene Eghagha, 37, of Lagos, Nigeria, were indicted on
November 19, 2019, on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud,
three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit
credit application fraud, and three counts of credit application
fraud. Additionally, Onyema was charged with 27 counts of money
laundering, and Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated
identity theft.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only
contains charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the
charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the
defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service
Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Aviation Administration,
Department of Commerce, and Department of Treasury are
investigating this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford, Deputy Chief of
the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section and Lead Strike Force
Attorney, Irina K. Dutcher, and Christopher J. Huber, Deputy Chief
of the Complex Frauds Section, are prosecuting the case, with
assistance from the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and
Asset Recovery Section and Office of International Affairs.

This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of
Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF)
Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which enables agents from
different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven,
multi-jurisdictional operations against a continuum of priority
targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks. These
prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces capitalize on the synergy
created through the long-term relationships that can be forged by
agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time,
and they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in
combating organized crime. The specific mission of the Atlanta
Strike Force is to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug
trafficking and money laundering organizations designated as
Consolidated Priority Organization Targets or Regional Priority
Organization Targets and their affiliates impacting the Atlanta
metropolitan area and the Northern District of Georgia.

You can read the rest of the report
here.^[2]

Air Peace had yet to address this report as at press time.