CEO of Nigeria's Air Peace charged in US with obstructing investigation into $20 million fraud probe

14.10.2024 - 21:47 / insider.com / prince Harry / Meghan Markle

Allen Onyema, the CEO and founder of Nigeria's Air Peace airline, has been charged with obstruction of justice in the US, adding to previous charges of bank fraud and money laundering.

A press release from the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia says that Onyema, 61, was charged with "submitting false documents to the government in an effort to end an investigation of him" that led to those earlier charges, which were brought in 2019.

Ejiroghene Eghagha, 42, Air Peace's chief of administration and finance, was also charged with obstruction, the press release says.

The pair were indicted in 2019 over allegations that they had moved more than $20 million from Nigeria through US bank accounts by using false documents based on the purchase of five Boeing 737 planes.

The indictment, seen by Business Insider, says they submitted export letters of credit to fund the purchases, along with supporting purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals.

But prosecutors argue that these documents were fake and that the company supposedly selling the planes, the Georgia-registered firm Springfield Aviation, was owned by Onyema and managed by someone with no connection to the aviation industry.

"The aircraft that was referenced in each of the export letters of credit was never owned or sold by Springfield Aviation," the indictment says.

Once the money was in the US, prosecutors say Onyema laundered over $16 million by moving it to other accounts.

In 2019, investigators then say Onyema, aware he was under investigation, told the Springfield Aviation manager to sign but not date a business contract.

His attorneys are later said to have presented this document — which was now dated before the alleged fraud began — to the government "in an effort to stop the investigation and unfreeze his bank accounts."

Following the latest charges, Ryan Buchanan, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said: "Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud."

Earlier this year, Onyema made headlines after he welcomed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Nigeria.

Harry and Markle flew from Nigeria's capital Abuja to Lagos on Air Peace in May, the MailOnline reported at the time.

An unnamed source close to the pair told the Daily Beast that the couple's travel within Nigeria had been arranged by the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff.

Business Insider has contacted Air Peace for comment.