US govt accuses Allen Onyema of Air Peace of falsifying documents over $20m fraud

The chief executive officer of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, has been charged ‘in a superseding indictment with obstruction of justice for submitting false documents to the government of United States in an effort to end an investigation that resulted in earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering.’

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced Onyema’s obstruction of justice charges in a statement issued on Friday, October 11.

Ejiroghene Eghagha, who serves as the Chief of Administration and Finance for the airline, has also been accused of involvement in the obstruction scheme, in addition to the previous charges related to bank fraud.

“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,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.

“The diligence of our federal investigative partners revealed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, making it possible for the defendants to be held accountable for their aggravated conduct of attempting to impede a federal investigation”.

“These cases represent the continued commitment of the Drug Enforcement Administration to identify and hold accountable those who engaged in fraud and money laundering,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.

“Allegedly, Onyema and his accomplices fraudulently used the U.S. banking system in an effort to hide the source of their ill-gotten money”, the statement added.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that Onyema and Eghagha allegedly used fraudulent export letters of credit to transfer over $20 million into U.S. bank accounts between 2016 and 2018.

The funds were reportedly intended for purchasing five Boeing 737 aircraft for Air Peace, but investigations showed that documents such as purchase agreements and appraisals were falsified.

But in a desperate attempt to keep the funds and outsmart the U.S. law enforcement, Mr Onyema connived with Mrs Eghagha to create a fraudulent contract, “Aircraft Sales and Management Agreement between Springfield Aviation and Air Peace” in May 2019. They backdated the contract to 2016 to make it seem like the contract existed before the first aircraft purchase.

Mr Onyema and Mrs Eghagha then gave the fraudulent contract to their lawyer, who in turn, submitted it to the U.S. Attorney’s 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.

Investigators subpoenaed Google to access the email records of the defendants and determine the source and actual date of the so-called contract.

Investigators found that Mrs Eghagha sent a mail to Ms Mayfield, a lady who pleaded, to sign the Management Agreement with a strict instruction stating “do not date.”

“Kindly help, print and sign the attached document,” Mrs Eghagha wrote in the mail on May 16, 2019 coping Mr Onyema. “Do not date please.”

“Once you have signed, kindly scan back to me. Let me know via WhatsApp if you have any questions,” she added in the mail.

Ms Mayfield did as instructed and resent the scanned contract to Mrs Eghagha on May 17, 2019.

Mr Onyema “caused his attorney J.H. to send” the fraudulent contract to the U.S. Attorney’s office “with the hopes of resolving the government’s concern and bringing the matter to a close.” The Air Peace CEO had intended for the contract to free him of any pending forfeiture proceeding.

The phrase “caused his attorney J.H.” suggests that Mr Onyema’s lawyer may have testified against his client that he was not complicit in submitting forged documents to free his client’s assets.

It is illegal for a lawyer and his client to knowingly commit fraud, as doing so would nullify attorney–client privilege, thereby activating the crime fraud exception.

Meanwhile, 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, Mr Onyema has been the subject of an active arrest warrant, making him a fugitive in the United States.

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