CEO of Air Peace indicted for bank fraud and money laundering by US Department of Justice

The United States government Friday
indicted Mr. Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, the Chairman, CEO, and
founder of Air Peace, 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. “Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent
business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents
to commit fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “We will
diligently protect the integrity of our banking system from being
corrupted by criminals, even when they disguise themselves in a cloak
of international business.”  Air Peace Chief of Administration and
Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged with bank fraud and
committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
“Onyema setup various innocent sounding multi-million dollar asset
purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam,”
said acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI
operations in Georgia and Alabama. “I’m proud to be part of a team of
law enforcement agencies that come together to identify and attack
criminals that attempt to profit from the exploitation of our nation’s
financial systems.” According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the indictment,
and other information presented in court: Onyema, a Nigerian citizen
and businessman, is 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.
Beginning in 2010, Onyema began travelling frequently to Atlanta,
where he 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, the U.S Department of
Justice said. Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA
Atlanta Field Division commented on the indictment, “Allen Onyema’s
status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted
the U.S. banking system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to
a skidding halt. DEA would like to thank the many law enforcement
partners and the subsequent prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office
who aided in making this investigation a success.” “This case is a
prime example of why IRS-CI seeks to partner and leverage its
expertise in an effort to thwart those seeking to exploit our nation’s
financial system,” said Thomas J. Holloman, IRS-Criminal Investigation
Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office. “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 are now heavily stacked against them as law enforcement
is combining its talents to protect the sanctity and integrity of the
nation’s financial system.”  According to investigators, Mr Onyema
the CEO and Chairman of Nigerian airline Air Peace, which he founded
in 2013 violated US banking laws. 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. Beginning in approximately 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 were 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. However, 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. Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, 56, of Lagos, Nigeria, and
Ejiroghene Eghagha, 37, of Lagos, Nigeria, 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,
and Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains
charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it
will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond
a reasonable doubt at trial. 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 this case. 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. This 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. These
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, and
they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating
organized crime. The specific mission of the Atlanta Strike Force is
to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug trafficking and
money laundering organizations designated as Consolidated Priority
Organization Targets or Regional Priority Organization Targets and
their affiliates impacting the Atlanta metropolitan area and the
Northern District of Georgia.