Allen Onyema, the chief executive officer of Air Peace, has
been indicted in the US for bank fraud and money laundering.
The Nigerian businessman was accused of moving more than $20
million from Nigeria through US bank accounts in a scheme involving “false
documents” based on the purchase of airplanes.
Onyema was indicted alongside Ejiroghene Eghagha, the
airline’s chief of administration and finance, who is said to have committed
aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
In a statement issued by the district attorney’s office on
Friday, Onyema and Eghagha 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.
“Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent
business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit
fraud,” Byung J, US attorney for the northern district of Georgia, was quoted
in the statement.
“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 Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta field division, also said: “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.”
Robert Hammer, another special agent, accused Onyema of
setting up “various innocent sounding multi-million dollar asset purchases
which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam”.
Onyema was said to have started travelling frequently to
Atlanta, where he opened several personal and business bank accounts. Between
2010 and 2018, over $44.9 million was allegedly transferred into his Atlanta-based
accounts from foreign sources.
After he founded Air Peace in 2013, Onyema was said to have
gone to the US to purchase aircraft and “over $3 million of the funds used to
purchase the aircraft allegedly came from bank accounts for Foundation for
Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development,
All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited, and Every Child Limited.
“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.”
The statement, however, added that Onyema and Eghagha are
presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to
prove the guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
In September, Onyema was hailed by many for evacuating
Nigerians stranded in South Africa at no cost. The house of representatives had
subsequently also recommend him for national award.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com