Allen Onyema, the founder and CEO of Nigerian airline Air Peace, is facing new charges in the United States for obstruction of justice.
Onyema and Ejiroghene Eghagha, the airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, allegedly submitted false documents to halt an investigation into earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering ¹ ².
According to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, Onyema used his airline as a front to target the U.S. banking system, transferring over $44.9 million from foreign sources into his U.S. bank accounts between 2010 and 2018. Onyema and Eghagha allegedly used falsified export letters of credit to transfer more than $20 million into Onyema’s U.S. accounts, pretending to purchase Boeing 737 aircraft for Air Peace ¹ ².
However, the documents supporting the transactions were fake, and Springfield Aviation, the company involved, was owned by Onyema with no connection to aviation. When Onyema learned he was under investigation in 2019, he and Eghagha allegedly conspired to submit a backdated contract to mislead the investigation and unfreeze bank accounts ¹ ².
Onyema and Eghagha were initially indicted in November 2019 on charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, multiple counts of bank fraud, credit application fraud, and money laundering. The recent indictment adds charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice ¹ ².
The investigation is ongoing, with both defendants presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. The DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Commerce, and Department of Treasury are conducting the investigation ¹ ².
In response, an Air Peace spokesperson claimed the new charges are a rehashing of previous allegations, and Onyema’s legal team will provide a formal response soon ².
