Allen Onyema, the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Air Peace, one of Nigeria’s leading airlines, faces new legal trouble in the United States after a federal grand jury indicted him on additional charges of obstruction of justice.
The charges stem from allegations that Onyema submitted false documents to U.S. authorities to derail an investigation into his earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering.
Alongside Onyema, Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace’s Chief of Administration and Finance, has also been charged with participating in the scheme.
U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan announced the charges, stating, “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.”
The superseding indictment, filed on October 8, 2024, alleges that Onyema and Eghagha attempted to obstruct justice by presenting false documents during the investigation. These new charges add to the existing accusations of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, credit application fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft, for which they were indicted in November 2019.
Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta Division, highlighted the commitment of U.S. law enforcement to hold those accountable who engage in such schemes. “These cases represent the continued commitment of the DEA to identify and hold accountable those who engaged in fraud and money laundering,” Murphy said.
The indictment reveals that between 2010 and 2018, Onyema allegedly used Air Peace as a front to transfer over $44.9 million into his Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources.
Beginning in May 2016, Onyema and Eghagha allegedly orchestrated a fraudulent scheme using export letters of credit to transfer more than $20 million into these accounts, under the guise of purchasing Boeing 737 passenger planes from a company called Springfield Aviation Company LLC.
However, authorities claim that Springfield Aviation was a shell company controlled by Onyema and had no actual connection to the aircraft purchase.
Steven N. Schrank, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta, emphasized the importance of honesty in criminal justice proceedings.
“The charges announced today demonstrate the criticality of diligence and truth in criminal justice proceedings,” Schrank said. “HSI and our partners are committed to pursuing those who seek to exploit our nation’s financial system and any efforts to cover up illegal activity.”
According to court documents, upon learning of the investigation in 2019, Onyema and Eghagha allegedly attempted to submit backdated documents in an effort to mislead authorities and unfreeze his bank accounts. The document in question, dated falsely to appear as though it was signed in 2016, was presented to the U.S. government by Onyema’s attorneys.
The ongoing investigation is led by multiple U.S. agencies, including the DEA, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Commerce, and the Department of Treasury. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford and Christopher J. Huber are prosecuting the case.
“Today’s superseding indictment is indicative of the dedication IRS-CI special agents and our law enforcement partners have, as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, to neutralize threats to the United States from criminal organizations,” said Lisa Fontanette, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at IRS-CI’s Atlanta Field Office.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) is leading the effort to dismantle criminal organizations like those allegedly operated by Onyema. The OCDETF program focuses on using a multi-agency approach to identify and disrupt the highest-level criminal operations that threaten U.S. interests.
