The Founder of Nigeria biggest Indigenous Airline, Air Peace, has been charged with bank fraud and money laundering for moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes.
In a statement credited to the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, the Head of Administration and Finance of Air Peace, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
According to U.S Attorney, Byung J. “BJay” PAK, Chief Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud.
According to him, his department will continue to diligently protect the integrity of the banking system from being corrupted by criminals, even when they disguise themselves in a cloak of international business.
Commenting on the indictment, Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division alleged that Allen Onyema’s status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud.
He said that Allen corrupted the U.S. banking system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt.
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He commended law enforcement partners and the subsequent prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office who aided in making the investigation a success.
Speaking also, Thomas J. Holloman, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office said that the case is a prime example of why IRS-CI seeks to partner and leverage its expertise to thwart those seeking to exploit the nation’s financial system.
He said, “With the importance of our banking system to the movement of money around the world, those attempting to use intricate schemes to commit bank fraud through the use of falsified documents and other means should know that the odds now heavily stacked against them as law enforcement is combining its talents to protect the sanctity and integrity of the nation’s financial system.”
Accusing Allen Onyema of setting up various innocent sounding multi-million dollar asset purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam, the acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations in Georgia and Alabama, said that he was proud to be part of a team of law enforcement agencies that came together to identify and attack criminals that attempt to profit from the exploitation of our nation’s financial systems.
Speaking on Onyema’s personality, the U.S. Attorney Pak, said that Allen Onyema, is Nigeria citizen and businessman, and also the founder and Chairman of several organizations that purport to promote peace across Nigeria, including the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development, and All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited.
According to him, in 2010, Onyema began travelling frequently to Atlanta, where he opened several personal and business bank accounts. He claimed that between 2010 and 2018, over $44.9 million was allegedly transferred into Allen Onyema’s Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources.
Making further claims, part of his statement reads, “Onyema is also the CEO and Chairman of Nigerian airline Air Peace, which he founded in 2013. In years following the founding of Air Peace, he traveled to the United States and purchased multiple airplanes for the airline. However, 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”
He said that in 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 we
re 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.
Giving further details, his statement reads, “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.”
He noted that Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema and Ejiroghene 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, adding that Onyema was charged with 27 counts of money laundering, and Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.
He reminded the public that the indictment only contains charges, since defendants are still presumed innocent of the charges as it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
He also noted that the 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 the case, while the assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford, Deputy Chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section and Lead Strike Force Attorney, Irina K. Dutcher, and Christopher J. Huber, Deputy Chief of the Complex Frauds Section, are prosecuting the case, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Office of International Affairs.
He however admitted that the prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations against a continuum of priority targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks.
He explained that the prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces capitalize on the synergy created through the long-term relationships that can be forged by agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time, as they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating organized crime.
He however noted that the specific mission of the Atlanta Strike Force is to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug trafficking and money laundering organizations designated as merged Priority Organization Targets or Regional Priority Organization Targets and their affiliates impacting the Atlanta metropolitan area and the Northern District of Georgia.
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