A United States court has renewed the arrest warrant for Allen Onyema, CEO of Nigeria’s Air Peace airline, over a serious $20 million bank fraud case that has been pending for over five years.
On October 9, 2024, the federal district court in Northern Georgia reissued the arrest order for Onyema and his co-defendant, Ejiroghene Eghagha, the airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance. This came after new charges were added to the original case.
In a superseding indictment filed on October 8, US authorities introduced additional counts of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, bringing the total number of charges to 38. These charges include conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud, credit application fraud, and identity theft, some of which date back to 2017 and 2018.
The court’s decision to renew the arrest warrant follows a previous one issued in 2019, but this recent action indicates that the legal battle is far from over for Onyema.
“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,” stated US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.
The charges stem from the accusations that Onyema and Eghagha moved millions of dollars from Nigeria to US bank accounts, falsely disguising the transactions as payments for aircraft purchases. According to prosecutors, the funds were transferred under the guise of being used to buy planes for Air Peace through Onyema’s American company, Springfield Aviation LLC. However, the aircraft referenced in the transactions were never owned or sold by Springfield Aviation, and false documents were allegedly used to deceive American banks into processing the payments.
The indictment claims that Onyema moved about $15 million between accounts in 2017, allegedly using 27 transactions to conceal the source of the funds, leading to multiple charges of money laundering. Additionally, the US government claims that in 2019, Onyema and Eghagha attempted to obstruct the investigation by submitting falsified documents to unfreeze his accounts. This action forms the basis for the new obstruction of justice charges.
“Onyema and his accomplices fraudulently used the U.S. banking system in an effort to hide the source of their ill-gotten money,” said Lisa Fontanette, an Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office.
The case against Onyema, once a well-respected business leader in Nigeria, has drawn widespread attention due to his prominent role in Nigeria’s aviation industry. Air Peace, the airline he founded in 2013, has grown into one of the largest commercial airlines in the country. Despite the ongoing legal troubles, Onyema’s lawyers have firmly maintained his innocence.
In a statement issued by the airline, Air Peace responded to the new developments, emphasizing that both Onyema and Eghagha remain innocent and that these are merely allegations. The airline’s legal team is actively working on the case, and Air Peace reassured the public that the legal proceedings would not disrupt its operations.
“Our legal team is fully engaged with the matter and is working tirelessly to ensure that justice prevails,” the airline stated. “We remain confident that, through due process, the truth will be revealed, and our CEO and co-defendant will be exonerated.”
Despite the ongoing legal case, the airline assured its customers that its operations would continue smoothly. “We want to reassure the public that these legal proceedings will not impact the safety, reliability, or day-to-day operations of Air Peace,” the statement continued.
Onyema’s legal troubles began in 2019 when US prosecutors accused him of orchestrating a complex fraud scheme involving the transfer of funds from Nigerian accounts to the US under false pretenses. The alleged fraudulent transactions were intended to purchase aircraft for Air Peace but instead resulted in the illegal movement of funds into Onyema’s personal accounts.
Onyema, along with his co-defendant Eghagha, has been accused of using a network of false documents, including fabricated purchase agreements, bills of sale, and valuation documents, to mislead banks and facilitate the fraudulent transfers. The case has drawn intense scrutiny due to Onyema’s status as a prominent Nigerian businessman with a reputation for philanthropic activities.
Since the initial charges were filed in 2019, the case has remained ongoing, with multiple arrest warrants and legal filings. The latest superseding indictment has only added to the complexity of the case, now stretching over five years of legal wrangling.
