Air Peace has dismissed the US government’s fresh indictment of its chairman and chief executive officer, Allen Onyema.
Onyema was accused of obstructing justice in a case involving a wide-ranging bank fraud and money laundering investigation in the United States.
The airline’s chief of administration and finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, also faces charges in the US for her alleged involvement in the justice blockage, and previous bank fraud allegations.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia on October 8, 2024, stated that Onyema and Eghagha allegedly submitted false documents to obstruct a government investigation into their activities which previously led to charges of bank fraud and money laundering and issued a warrant of arrest for the duo.
“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 Atlanta Division, Robert J. Murphy further emphasised how the case showed the agency’s commitment to identifying and holding accountable those who engaged in fraud and money laundering.
The assistant special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Lisa Fontanette, added that despite Onyema and Eghagha using the U.S. banking system to hide their crime, the indictment shows the dedication of Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) to neutralise threats to the United States from criminal organisations.
In May 2016, Onyema and his accomplice, Eghagha, allegedly used several fake export letters of credit to transfer over $20 million into Onyema’s U.S accounts, pretending to use the funds to buy five separate Boeing 737 passenger planes for Air Peace.
This was supported by various documents including, purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals to show that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a business registered in Georgia.
