{"id":11423,"date":"2019-11-30T23:57:58","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T23:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=6007"},"modified":"2019-11-30T23:57:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T23:57:58","slug":"44-9million-fraud-money-laundering-forgery-identity-theft-in-america-fbi-transmits-extradition-documents-to-nigeria-efcc-quizzes-allen-ifechukwu-onyema-boss-of-peace-airline-for-10-hours-int","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/44-9million-fraud-money-laundering-forgery-identity-theft-in-america-fbi-transmits-extradition-documents-to-nigeria-efcc-quizzes-allen-ifechukwu-onyema-boss-of-peace-airline-for-10-hours-int\/","title":{"rendered":"$44.9million Fraud, Money laundering, Forgery &Identity Theft in America! FBI transmits Extradition documents to Nigeria, EFCC quizzes ALLEN IFECHUKWU ONYEMA, boss of Peace Airline for 10 hours…INTERPOL liaises with Nigerian law enforcement agents on further prosecution in Canada, intensify surveillance tracking *Anti-graft agency expands investigation into other Nigerian accomplices *Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta supports Onyema’s indictment by U.S. Department of Justice, vows to cripple activities of Peace airline, other fixed assets in Nigeria * ‘I am innocent of all corrupt charges in United States of America. I am gathering the right paper work and getting ready to clear my name’-embattled Onyema cries out *How Onyema made millions of dollars during Amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants * \u201cWe carried out the October 1, 2010 Independence Day twin bombings in Abuja in protest of the amnesty fraud\u201d-Jomo Gbomo, spokesman for MEND in a statement * ‘Allen Onyema and Kingsley Kuku, former adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, used funds meant for the amnesty programme to float Air Peace airline’-Diepreye Dikibo, ex-Militant Leaders Forum in the Niger Delta BY AHMED IDRIS\/NATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR, NIGERIA, FUNLOLA OWOEYE\/SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT & GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN FOREIGN BUREAU CHIEF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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$44.9million\nFraud, Money laundering, Forgery &Identity Theft in America! <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FBI\ntransmits Extradition documents to Nigeria, EFCC quizzes ALLEN\nIFECHUKWU ONYEMA, boss of Peace Airline for 10 hours…INTERPOL\nliaises with Nigerian law enforcement agents on further prosecution\nin Canada, intensify surveillance tracking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Anti-graft\nagency expands investigation into other Nigerian accomplices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Movement\nfor Emancipation of Niger Delta supports Onyema’s indictment by U.S.\nDepartment of Justice, vows to cripple activities of Peace airline,\nother fixed assets in Nigeria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n‘I am innocent of all corrupt charges in United States of America. I\nam gathering the right paper work and getting ready to clear my\nname’-embattled Onyema cries out<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*How\nOnyema made millions of dollars during Amnesty programme for Niger\nDelta militants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n\u201cWe carried\nout the October 1, 2010 Independence Day twin bombings in Abuja in\nprotest of the amnesty fraud\u201d-Jomo Gbomo, spokesman for MEND in a\nstatement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n‘Allen Onyema and Kingsley Kuku, former adviser to ex-President\nGoodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, used funds meant for the\namnesty programme to float Air Peace airline’-Diepreye Dikibo, \nex-Militant Leaders Forum in the Niger Delta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\nAHMED IDRIS\/NATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR, NIGERIA, FUNLOLA OWOEYE\/SPECIAL\nDIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT & GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN FOREIGN\nBUREAU CHIEF<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THERE\nCOMES A TIME IN LIFE WHEN THE CHALLENGES OF LIFE SEEMS TOO\nOVERWHELMING, NOT CAUSED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES BUT BY OUR OWN\nHANDIWORKS. ALLEN ONYEMA, the boss of Air Peace Nigeria obviously\nseem to have his hands full of vicissitudes as his dark past in Niger\nDelta and various underhand secret-dealings in America allegedly\ntracked by the United States Department of Justice since 2010 had\nculminated in an indictment in a United States Court. The Federal\nBureau of Intelligence, FBI, America’s number one law enforcement\nagency handling this matter had parleyed Nigeria’s top anti-graft\nagency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a bid to\nhave Onyema extradited to America to answer fully for his crimes of\n$44.9million fraud, money laundering, identity theft, forgery, even\nas the embattled airline owner claims innocence of any crime\ncommitted. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having\nreceived this communication from FBI, Nigeria’s top anti-graft\nagency, EFCC had summoned Onyema to its Lagos office along Awolowo\nroad, Ikoyi where he was grilled and investigated for a marathon 10\nhours few days ago, as he is now placed under close security watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong\nindications emerged last night that the EFCC may watch-list a former\nSpecial Adviser\/Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme Office seen to\nhands-in-glove with Onyema in allegedly looting Niger Delta. It was\nlearnt that the ex-Special Adviser might be placed on INTERPOL red\nalert list. Investigation\nrevealed that Onyema, who was quizzed on Wednesday, has been placed\non administrative bail. It was, however, learnt that his activities\nare under the anti-graft commission\u2019s surveillance. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security\nsources in EFCC said the invitation of Onyema was part of the ongoing\ncollaboration with the FBI and other security networks working on the\nalleged $44.9 million wire deals in which Onyema, his Finance Officer\nEjiroghene Eghagha and two banks were implicated after the agency\nreceived communication from America’s law enforcement agency on the\nurgent need to have Onyema fully answer for his crimes in United\nStates court. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nsource said: \u201cOur team of detectives on Wednesday interacted with\nOnyema in our Lagos office on the wire deals, especially on issues\ninvolving money laundering. The questioning was part of our ongoing\ncollaboration with the FBI and other agencies in line with the Mutual\nLegal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between Nigeria and the United States.\nWe decided to release Onyema on administrative bail in deference to\nhis constitutional right of innocence until proven guilty. But Onyema\nis on surveillance by the EFCC pending the conclusion of the ongoing\ninvestigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAsked\nwhy the EFCC opted to interrogate Onyema after charges have been\npreferred against him and Ejiroghene Eghagha in the United States,\nthe source added: \u201cThere are vital Nigerian components of the\nindictment and demands of the US Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor\ninstance, the US is seeking the forfeiture of over $13 million left\nin some accounts linked with the suspect in the United States and\nCanada. The funds are $4,017,852.51 in JP Morgan Chase Bank in the US\nand $4,593,842.05 and $5,634,842.04 in the Bank of Montreal, Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\ncannot rule out some of the money in some accounts in Nigeria. And\nour investigation may reveal the identities of other accomplices.\nAlso, two Nigerian banks have been mentioned in the wire deals,\nespecially transactions on purchase of aircraft. If there are assets\nto be seized in Nigeria, we have to collaborate with the US\nGovernment on the forfeiture process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs\nat press time, it was learnt that the EFCC was on the trail of a\nformer Special Adviser\/ Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnother\nsource said: \u201cThe suspect has gone underground. We may have no\nchoice but to watch-list the ex-Special Adviser. We will eventually\nplace him on INTERPOL red alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPreliminary\nfindings revealed a nexus between Amnesty Office and the activities\nof Onyema\u2019s firms\/groups\/ NGOs as applicable. These groups include\nthe Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Centre for\nNon-Violence and Peace Development, All-Time Peace Media\nCommunications Limited and Every Child Limited.\n\u201cOur\ndetectives discovered that the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in\nNigeria (FEHN) handled the training and transformation of some former\nNiger Delta militants for both the Amnesty Programme Office and the\nNiger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nResponding\nto a question, the source said: \u201cWe are probing allegation of money\nlaundering which led to the buying of exotic vehicles by Onyema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nwords: \u201cHe\nblew about N170,100,000 ( $472,500) on three vehicles with cash\ntransferred into his BOA 8086 account from Nigerian and other foreign\nbank accounts. We want him to explain the sources of the cash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAccording\nto the unsealed indictment, Onyema bought the luxury vehicles as\nfollows: armored Lexus LX570 ($204,000);  Rolls Royce\n($180,000); and Mercedez Benz($88,500).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nindictment reads in part: \u201cBetween April 2010 and January 2016,\nOnyema transferred millions of dollars into his BOA 8086 account from\nNigerian and other foreign bank accounts, including hundreds of\nthousands of dollars transferred directly from accounts for\nFoundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence\nand Peace Development, All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited,\nand Every Child Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnyema\nused the funds in his BOA 8086 account to pay for personal living\nexpenses, among other purchases. For example, Onyema purchased an\narmored Lexus LX570 ($204,000.00), using, in part, funds from BOA\n8086.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cIn\nor about January 2016, Bank of America closed BOA 8086 and issued a\ncashier\u2019s cheque in the amount of $4,000,396.43 made payable to\nOnyema and his wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn\nor about March 1, 2016, Onyema opened a checking account ending in\n3417 (\u201cWF 3417\u201d) and a savings account ending in 8020 (\u201cWF\n8020\u201d) at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Atlanta, Georgia. Both WF\n3417 and WF 8020 were opened in the name of Allen I. Onyema, and\nOnyema was the sole authorised signatory on both accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBetween\non or about March 2, 2016, and May 10, 2016, Wells 8020 received\nnumerous wire transfers totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars\nfrom his bank accounts domiciled in Nigeria, including but not\nlimited to the bank account for All-Time Peace Media Communications\nLimited and Foundation for Ethnic Harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom\nMarch through May 2016, Onyema made numerous cash withdrawals from WF\n8020 totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. WF 3417 was used to\npay for personal expenses, including purchases at Atlanta, Georgia\nlocations of Prada, Neiman Marcus, Macy\u2019s, Louis Vuitton, the Apple\nStore, and various airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn\nMarch 2016, Onyema also used WF 8020 to purchase luxury cars,\nincluding a Roll Royce for $180,000 and a Mercedes for $88,500, among\nothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn\nor about November 14, 2017, Onyema opened a business savings account\nending in 2151 (JPMC 2151) at a JP Morgan Chase Bank branch in\nAtlanta, Georgia. Both JPMC 5512 and JPMC 2151 were opened in the\nsame name of Springfield Aviation Company, LLC, and Onyema was the\nsole authorized signatory on both accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn\ntotal, from 2010 through 12018, wire deposits amounting to over $44.9\nmillion transferred from foreign accounts into Onyema\u2019s Bank of\nAmerica, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nall of these financial fraud, INTERPOL\nis liaising with the Nigerian law enforcement agents on further\nprosecution of Onyema in Canada, as the global security firm has now\nintensify its surveillance tracking on the slow-speaking boss of Air\nPeace Nigeria, with a warrant about to be issued for his arrest\nanywhere in the world. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMeanwhile,\nthe Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a\nfrontline militant group in the Niger Delta region, has backed the\nUnited States over its indictment of Air Peace Chairman\/CEO Mr Allen\nOnyema on fraud charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\ngroup, known for its 2010 Independence Day twin terror bombings in\nAbuja, ominously warned that Air Peace and Onyema\u2019s assets have\nbecome \u201clegitimate targets for attack\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMEND,\nin statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, stated that the report of\nthe investigation of United States officials has vindicated militant\ncommanders who had raised eyebrows over padded list of militants from\nthe region and the use of funds meant for the Niger Delta amnesty\nprogramme under the administration of former President Goodluck\nJonathan for personal use by the drivers of the programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\ngroup, which insisted that the 30,000 figure for the amnesty\nprogramme was grossly exaggerated, said that the \u201cninety-nine\npercent of the beneficiaries from the padded training programs had\nnothing to do with militancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMEND\ndecried the short-changing of what it called authentic freedom\nfighters of the region, and slammed the EFCC for not investigating\nOnyema until the indictment by the United States Department of\nJustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the militant group, several people in the National Assembly and\nmilitant commanders are aware of that the militants that took part in\ntheir struggle are not more than 2,000, but have chosen instead to\nkeep quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nstatement reads in part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nadministration of Goodluck Jonathan, aware of the fraud, was more\ninterested in giving the semblance of peace in the Niger Delta rather\nthan addressing the root issues for which we took up arms. Issues in\nthe mutilated constitution and the need for dialogue before\ndisarmament were completely ignored. Authentic freedom fighters like\nthe Okah brothers, Henry and Charles, who insisted on the right steps\nto be taken and who opposed the glaring amnesty fraud, were labelled\nuncooperative, framed on trumped up charges and jailed. MEND carried\nout the October 1, 2010 Independence Day twin bombings in Abuja in\nprotest of the amnesty fraud which Goodluck Jonathan was comfortable\nwith as long as it guaranteed his presidency. [Air] Peace Airlines\nand every known asset belonging to Allen Onyema, and the fixed assets\nof every known person involved in duping the Niger Delta region\nthrough the amnesty fraud, have become legitimate targets for\nattack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nas far back as 2014, Diepreye Dikibo, the spokesman of the\nex-Militant Leaders Forum in the Niger Delta, alleged that Onyema and\nKingsley Kuku, former adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on\nNiger Delta Affairs, used funds meant for the amnesty programme to\nfloat Air Peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuku\nwas the coordinator of the project while Onyema was a consultant. In\na statement, Dikibo alleged that Onyema\u2019s Foundation for Ethnic\nHarmony was one of the biggest beneficiaries of contracts from\npresidential amnesty programme. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below\nis the full statement from the spokesman of the ex-militant leaders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \u201cInitially,\nthere were rumors that Air Peace, a new Airline whose aircraft have\nrecently been cited at Lagos Airports belong to the First Lady\nPatience Faka Jonathan. That is all not true. We believe at this\nmoment, that those who churned out the story that the Airlines\nbelonged to the First Lady did so deliberately to hide the truth and\nto mislead the people.The truth did not take too long to come out.\nBusiness concerns owned by Allen Onyema, a Lagos based businessman,\ncolleague and close confidant of the Special adviser to the President\non Niger Delta & Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme\nKingsley Kuku have not been confirmed as responsible for the Airlines\nand more to that, Allen Onyema has now publicly confirmed that he is\nthe Chairman of the Air Peace Airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cAllen Onyema\u2019s\nbusiness outfit handled the demobilization and orientation of former\nNiger Delta militants which cost billions of Naira to run. Allen\nOnyema has also been responsible for high valued training contracts\n(running into billions) in the areas of welding training as well as\naviation training for the Presidential Amnesty Programme in countries\nsuch as South Africa, The United States and Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \u201cKingsley\nKuku, Allen Onyema with House of Reps Committee Members on the Niger\nDelta visiting Proclad Academy, Dubai (Where Allen Onyema\u2019s\nbusiness outfit ICNPD) is training Niger Delta youths in welding for\nmillions of dollars. The appointment of Kingsley Kuku as SA, Niger\nDelta & Chairman of the Amnesty Programme in January 2011, was a\nhuge blessing for Allen Onyema as it gives him automatic access to a\nmonster chunk of the more sixty billion Naira allocated to the\namnesty programme yearly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nRevealing\nthe statement further reads that: \u201cTwo of Allen Onyeama\u2019s NGOs\nwhich also double as business outfits are known to be the biggest\nbeneficiary of large value Presidential Amnesty Contracts and we can\nconfirm that none of these outfits has any ties to the First Lady\nPatience Jonathan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\ninclude the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria, FEHN, and the\nInternational Center for Non-violence & Peace Development, ICNPD.\nAll the contracts awarded to Allen Onyema and his business run into\nmillions of dollars and are all grossly inflated and over valued in a\nmanner designed to short change the Amnesty Programme and steal the\nbillions of Naira yearly allocated to the manage the amnesty program\nme in the Niger Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nInside\nsources close to Kingsley Kuku and Allen Onyema say that Kingsley\nKuku\u2019s fears that the President might not return in 2015 and the\nneed to settle his future spurred Kuku and Onyema to start the\nAirlines on time rather than wait for the Presidential election in\n2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nFor\nthe records, over time, Ex-militant leaders in the Niger Delta had\nspoken up about the rot in the Presidential Amnesty Programme but\nwere not listened to. Rather, a band of lesser known and less\ncredible leaders are being patronized by the Amnesty Programme and\npaid to issue press releases that threaten mayhem to Nigerians if\nPresident Jonathan is not elected in 2015 as though it was their\nvotes that brought him to power in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nhis own reaction, Onyema still maintain he is innocent of all charges\nagainst him, \u201c <\/strong>\nI\nam innocent of all fraud charges in United States of America. I work\nhard for my money. I am ready to face the court in America to prove\nmy innocence and clear my name.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Additional\nreports in The Cable<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

$44.9million Fraud, Money laundering, Forgery &Identity Theft in America! FBI transmits Extradition documents to Nigeria, EFCC quizzes ALLEN IFECHUKWU ONYEMA, boss of Peace Airline for 10 hours…INTERPOL liaises with Nigerian law enforcement agents on further prosecution in Canada, intensify surveillance tracking *Anti-graft agency expands investigation into other Nigerian accomplices *Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}