Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace has been indicted over an alleged bank fraud and money laundering scheme.
The Airline owner was accused of moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes.
Air Peace’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha was also linked to the alleged fraudulent scheme and was charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft.
It was gathered that Onyema began a frequent trip to Atlanta in United States in 2010 and reportedly 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.
In the statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Northern District of Georgia, the Nigerian businessman was accused of purchasing five separate Boeing 737 passenger planes by using a series of export letters of credit to cause banks to transfer more than $20 million into his Atlanta-based bank accounts.
The supporting documents were allegedly fake and reportedly from Springfield Aviation Company LLC which is owned by Onyema and managed by a person with no connection to the aviation business. It was found that Springfield Aviation Company LLC never owned the aircraft it claimed to be buying. The company that allegedly drafted the appraisals also does not exist.
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.
Additionally, Onyema was charged with 27 counts of money laundering while Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.