By Lucy Adautin
The US government has escalated the charges in the ongoing $20 million bank fraud case against Allen Onyema, CEO of Air Peace, as the Nigerian businessman continues to avoid trial in an American court for five years.
Despite maintaining his innocence, Onyema remains wanted in the US due to the pending bank fraud charges against him and a co-defendant at the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, since 2019.
“On October 8, 2024, both were indicted again, facing new charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced recently.
Onyema is accused of obstructing justice by submitting false documents to halt an investigation into bank fraud. In 2019, he allegedly provided fake documents to unfreeze accounts. His co-defendant, Ejiroghene Eghagha, faces similar charges.
“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 statement quoted US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan as saying.
Onyema remains a fugitive in the US after an alleged co-conspirator in the $20 million bank fraud case received a sentence in an American court in September 2022.
The US District Court sentenced Ebony Mayfield, an American, to three years of probation for her involvement in facilitating the alleged fraud.
She avoided prison time by pleading guilty early, before her trial began.
Her defense argued for leniency, citing her remorse and cooperation with authorities during the investigation.
They also emphasized that she gained very little from the scheme, with Mayfield admitting she earned just $20,000 from her role in the alleged conspiracy between 2016 and 2018. While Mayfield dealt with her trial, Onyema and his co-defendant, Eghagha, remained fugitives, evading arrest.
The US government indicted Onyema and Eghagha with 36 counts of conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud, credit application fraud, and identity theft on November 19, 2019.
Authorities obtained warrants for their arrest in the US and Canada, where some of the alleged fraudulent proceeds were reportedly transferred.
Prior to these charges, on September 5, 2019, US Magistrate Russell Vineyard of the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued an arrest warrant for Onyema and Eghagha in Canada.
The US government has filed a superseding indictment in the nearly five-year-old case against Allen Onyema, adding two more charges, bringing the total to 38.
Onyema is accused of moving suspicious funds from Nigeria to US accounts between 2017 and 2018, disguised as payments for aircraft. He and his co-defendant, Eghagha, allegedly used export letters of credit to transfer money from a Nigerian bank to Onyema’s US company, Springfield Aviation, under the guise of purchasing aircraft for Air Peace. Both companies are owned by Onyema.
“All the aircraft were brought into Nigeria and used by Air Peace. There was no victim, no loss of funds, and no criminal intent,” the law firm stated.
They added that Nigerian law enforcement had reviewed the case and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
In a 2019 statement, Onyema vowed to defend his innocence in US courts. However, he and his co-defendant have yet to appear to enter a plea.
