A U.S federal court has renewed an arrest warrant for Allen Onyema, the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, over an ongoing $20 million fraud case.
The warrant was reissued on October 9, 2024, by the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia, Atlanta, following the addition of new charges to the case.
Onyema, alongside his co-defendant, Ejiroghene Eghagha (the airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance), is now facing an expanded list of charges, including obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, in addition to 36 earlier counts related to conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud, credit application fraud, and identity theft.
This brings the total number of charges against the two men to 38.
The new charges stem from allegations that Onyema and Eghagha attempted to obstruct a previous investigation into their financial dealings.
The two men are accused of submitting false documents to the U.S. government to end the investigation into their alleged fraudulent activities, which include moving large sums of money from Nigeria to the U.S. between 2017 and 2018, under the guise of aircraft purchases.
In response to the charges, Air Peace has maintained that Onyema and Eghagha are innocent and that the latest legal developments will not disrupt the airline’s operations.
The company emphasized that the case is ongoing and that Onyema and his legal team are cooperating fully with the authorities.
This is not the first time Onyema and Eghagha have been targeted by U.S. prosecutors.
In 2019, the court issued an arrest warrant against both men, and U.S. prosecutors allege that they used Springfield Aviation, a company owned by Onyema, to facilitate the fraudulent transfer of funds under the pretense of buying aircraft for Air Peace.
The U.S. government claims the aircraft referenced in the transactions were never owned or sold by Springfield Aviation, and that the money was funneled through various accounts, with Onyema allegedly transferring $15 million from Springfield Aviation’s accounts to his personal account in 27 separate transactions in 2017.
Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, Air Peace reassured the public that Onyema’s legal troubles would not impact the airline’s daily operations.
The airline remains confident that Onyema and Eghagha will be exonerated, maintaining their commitment to providing reliable and safe services to their passengers.
