The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has been hit with new charges by the United States for alleged obstruction of justice in an ongoing investigation.
In a superseding indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia accused Onyema and Air Peace’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, of submitting false documents in a bid to thwart a federal investigation into their activities.
Both Onyema and Eghagha have been under scrutiny since 2019 for alleged money laundering.
The Air Peace CEO is accused of moving over $20 million from Nigeria through U.S. bank accounts using fraudulent documents under the guise of purchasing airplanes.
Eghagha is also facing charges of aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, Ryan Buchanan, issued a statement on Friday detailing the fresh charges.
According to Buchanan, the two defendants allegedly attempted to obstruct justice by committing additional fraudulent acts aimed at disrupting the investigation.
“Onyema, using his airline company as a cover, allegedly defrauded the U.S. banking system and later, along with his co-defendant, committed further crimes in a failed attempt to derail the government’s probe into his conduct.
“The diligence of our federal investigative partners exposed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, ensuring that they can now be held accountable for their aggravated conduct,” he said.
The U.S. Attorney’s office revealed that from May 2016, Onyema and Eghagha allegedly employed a series of export letters of credit to cause banks to transfer over $20 million into Atlanta-based accounts controlled by Onyema.
These funds were purportedly for the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes for Air Peace.
The documents presented to support these transactions, including purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals, were allegedly fake.
Investigations uncovered that the planes were to be acquired from Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a Georgia-registered business owned by Onyema.
However, Springfield Aviation never owned the aircraft, and the company was managed by a person with no ties to the aviation industry.
“In May 2019, upon discovering that he was under investigation in the Northern District of Georgia for bank fraud, Onyema and Eghagha allegedly directed the Springfield Aviation manager to sign a key business contract, but also specifically told her to not date the document. In October 2019, Onyema allegedly caused his attorneys to present that same contract, now falsely dated as being signed on May 5, 2016 (prior to the bank fraud that began in 2016), to the government in an effort to stop the investigation and unfreeze his bank accounts.
“Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, 61, of Lagos, Nigeria, and Ejiroghene Eghagha, 42, 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. On October 8, 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 case is criminal action number 1:19-CR-464.
“Members of the public are reminded that the indictments only contain charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ 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 and Christopher J. Huber are prosecuting the case,” U.S. Attorney’s office revealed.
