Chairman, CEO, and founder of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has been charged in the United States with obstruction of justice for allegedly submitting false documents to stop a federal investigation.
Air Peace is a Nigerian airline that flies domestic and international routes.
Onyema, along with Ejiroghene Eghagha, the airlines Chief of Administration and Finance, had already faced charges of bank fraud and money-laundering in an ongoing case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The Office of the Clerk of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, under Kevin Weimer, issued the warrant on October 8. The Districts U.S. Attorneys Office announced Onyemas obstruction of justice charges in a press release issued on Friday, October 11.
The warrant that branded Mrs. Eghagha a fugitive, ordered that she be taken into custody and produced in court before prosecutors could start the trial. Her arrest warrant was issued just as a superseded indictment was slammed against Onyema, the Air Peace owner, whose attempt to cover-up a multi-million dollar fraud scheme has landed him a fresh set of criminal charges.
In 2019, the U.S. Attorneys office filed a slew of charges ranging from bank fraud and wire fraud against Onyema, who in 2017 raised fresh letters of credit to purchase the same Boeing aircrafts that he had already bought months prior, in a manner akin to money-laundering.
Onyema reportedly purchased five Boeing aircrafts. Months later, Air Peace raised letters of credit to U.S. banks to pay Springfield (the company he created) for the same aircrafts that he had already bought months prior. He submitted fake supporting documents to strengthen his credit applications.
His bank accounts in the U.S. and Canada were frozen with millions of dollars in them and he was set to forfeit the money to the American government.
But in a desperate attempt to keep the funds and outsmart the U.S. law enforcement, Onyema connived with Mrs. Eghagha to create a fraudulent contract, then gave the fraudulent contract to their lawyer, who in turn, submitted it to the U.S. Attorneys office, where he explained the actions of his clients were not criminal and that there was no need pursuing the forfeiture proceeding.
The act of falsifying documents to prevent forfeiture of the seized funds, according to the grand jury, was deemed a conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. The fresh set of charges of obstructing justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice has resurrected what would have otherwise been a cold case of money-laundering against the Air Peace boss.
Since 2019, Onyema has been the subject of an active arrest warrant, making him a fugitive in the United States. Despite owning an airline that flies international routes, Mr Onyema cannot risk travelling to the U.S. and likely other nations deemed Americas allies for fear of being arrested and extradited as was the case with Internet fraudsters Hushpuppi and Woodberry.
