Rise & Fall of Nigeria’s Air Peace Airline boss:
American, Canadian Governments declare ALLEN ONYEMA Wanted over $20million Fraud…Justice department indict him for money laundering
*INTERPOL, EFCC set to effect arrest, extradite fugitive to America
* lavishes $180,000 on Rolls Royce, $88,500 Mercedes cars, $204,000.00 on armoured Lexus LX570
*Forged financial instruments using fake export letters of credit at Bank of America BOA 8086, Wells Fargo WF 3417 , J.P. Morgan Chase account number XXXXXXXXXXX5512 and Bank of Montreal Canada account number XXXXXXX7515
*Huge mansions in Atlanta, Roaming Mobile phone (404-467-xxxx) under security surveillance (Home located at): 3475 Oak Valley RD NE #40, Atlanta, GA 30326 , 3390 Fairburn RD SW #K171 Atlanta, GA 30331
* Detectives bust his FAKE business deals in United States, Facing 40 years JAIL TERM in total if found guilty in U.S. and Canada, U.S. Marshals ready to take him into custody
* “Onyema’s status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted the U.S. banking system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt”- Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Robert J. Murphy
* “I am innocent of all fraud charges in United States of America. I work hard for my money. I am ready to face the court in America to prove my innocence and clear my name”-embattled Air Peace chairman lament
BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU, AMERICAN Foreign Bureau Chief & DINA SOLOMON AMAECHI/SPECIAL CRIME EDITOR, CANADA & OLA IDOWU, CRIME REPORTER, ABUJA
THERE SEEMS TO COME AN END OF THE ROAD FOR ALLEN ONYEMA, THE EMBATTLED MANAGING DIRECTOR OF NIGERIA’S Air Peace Airline as latest documents made available by United States Department of Justice and Canadian government have shown that the soft-spoken boss of this troubled airplane is in troubled water, been that he had been declared wanted by American and Canadian authorities for falsely defrauding these nations to the tune of of over Twenty Million dollars ($20million) by submitting fake financial instruments into Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of Montreal Canada. He is facing a minimum jail term of 40 years if found guilty and convicted.
This top-notch businessman who owns Nigeria’s largest airline, was indicted by United States authorities on charges of fraud and money laundering.He allegedly moved “more than $20 million from Nigeria though United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes”, while the company’s chief of administration and finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, was charged with bank fraud and identity theft in the same case, as confirmed in the statement.
Onyema, who is also the airline’s chief executive officer, allegedly used export letters of credit that were supposedly to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace to get banks to transfer the money, according to the Justiced Department statement. Supporting documents from a U.S. registered company owned by Onyema “were fake,”it said.
He
then allegedly laundered over $16 million of the proceeds by
transferring it to other accounts, the Department of Justice said.
More than $3 million of the transferred funds allegedly came from
accounts of organizations set up by Onyema to promote peace across
Nigeria, according to the statement.
Onyema
and Eghagha deny all the charges and will “vigorously defend”
themselves, according to a statement prepared by their lawyers, A.O.
Alegeh & Co. “The allegations are unfounded and strange,”
said the statement. The
Air Peace boss “looks forward to an opportunity to rebut these
allegations in court,” the statement said.
Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013 and the carrier now offers numerous domestic routes in Nigeria as well as flights to other West African destinations and Dubai. The Lagos-based carrier recently won praise for repatriating Nigerians from South Africa during a wave of xenophobic violence.
“Onyema’s
status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He
corrupted the U.S. banking system, but his trail of deceit and
trickery came to a skidding halt,” Drug Enforcement Agency Special
Agent Robert J. Murphy said in the DOJ statement.
The US District Court of the Northern District of Georgia has issued a warrant of arrest against Mr Allen Onyema, the chairman of Nigerian Air Peace Airline over alleged money laundering and bank fraud
Onyema’s warrant of arrest was signed by Justin Anand, an American magistrate of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Georgia, on November 19. The warrant authorized U.S. Marshals Service to take Mr Onyema into custody. Recall that the US prosecutor at the Justice department on Friday alleged that the Air Peace boss moved more than $20 million from Nigeria though United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes. Air Peace chief of administration and finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, was also indicted with bank fraud and identity theft in the same case.
Among other crimes, he was also accused of using export letters of credit that were supposedly to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace to get banks to transfer the money, adding that documents from a U.S. registered company owned by Onyema were fake.
He was also said to have laundered over $16 million of the proceeds by transferring it to other accounts noting that more than $3 million of the transferred funds allegedly came from accounts of organizations set up by Onyema to promote peace across Nigeria. Oyeama faces extradition from Nigeria to the US to face trial.
Canadian authorities have commenced efforts to execute a corresponding arrest warrant issued for a Nigerian businessman accused of fraud in the United States. Onyema, chairman of Air Peace Limited in Nigeria, is facing multiple charges of money laundering and bank fraud in excess of $20 million. A United States grand jury recently indicted Mr Onyema and Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace’s head of finance and administration. Both suspects denied the allegation in a statement Saturday and indicated their determination to fight the charges in court.
Although Messrs Onyema and Eghagha are currently believed to be in Nigeria, judges in the U.S. have been issuing warrants for their arrest, according to court filings sighted by Naija Standard Newspaper.
On September 5, Russell Vineyard, a magistrate at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, issued a corresponding warrant of arrest for Messrs Onyema and Eghagha in Canada.
American prosecutors had sought the warrant to enable Canadian law enforcement authorities take the suspects into custody if sighted in their jurisdiction. As part of a longstanding tradition on cross-border crimes, American authorities have briefed their Canadian counterparts about their case against the two Nigerians, documents said.
ONYEMA transferred funds from his Nigerian bank accounts to his personal bank accounts in the United States
For the records, in or around 2010, ONIEMA began frequently travelling to Atlanta, Georgia. From 2010 and continuing through 2017, ONYEMA travelled back and forth between Nigeria and Atlanta, Georgia to conduct various financial transactions.
On or about April 2, 2010, Onyema opened a checking account ending in. 8086 in the name of Allen I. ONYEMA at a Bank of America branch in Atlanta, Georgia (“BOA 8086”). ONYRMA was the sole authorized signatory on the account. In or around August 2011, ONYEMA added his wife as a joint member to BOA 8086.
Between April 2010 and January 2016, ONYEMA transferred millions of dollars into his BOA 8086 account from Nigerian and other foreign bank accounts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars transferred directly from accounts for Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non Violence and Peace Development, All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited, and Every Child Limited.
ONYEMA used the funds in his BOA 8086 account to pay for personal living expenses, among other purchases. For example, Onyema purchased an armoured Lexus LX570 ($204,000.00), using, in part, funds from BOA 8086.
In or about January 2016, Bank of America closed BOA 8086 and issued a cashier’s check in the amount of $4,000,396.43 made payable to ONYEMA and his wife.
On or about March 1, 2016, ONYEMA opened a checking account ending in 3417 (“WE 3417”) and a savings account ending in 8020 (“WF 8020”) at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Atlanta, Georgia. Both WF 3417 and WE 8020 were opened in the name of Allen I. ONYEMA, and ONYEMA was the sole authorized signatory on both accounts.
On or about March 7, 2016, ONYEMA deposited the Bank of America cashier’s check into WE 8020. That same day, ONIEMA added his wife as a Secondary Joint Owner and authorized signatory to WE 8020 and WF 3417.
Between on or about March 2, 2016, and May 10, 2016, Wells 8020 received numerous wire transfers totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his bank accounts domiciled in Nigeria, including but not limited to the bank account for All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited and Foundation for Ethnic Harmony.
From March through May 2016, ONYEMA made numerous cash withdrawals from WF 8020 totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars. WE 3417 was used to pay for personal expenses, including purchases at Atlanta, Georgia locations of Prada, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Louis Vuitton, the Apple Store, and various airlines.
In
March 2016, ONIEMA also used WF 8020 to purchase luxury cars,
including a Rolls Royce for $180,000 and a Mercedes for $88,500,
among others. 16. On or about November 14, 2017, ONYEMA opened a
business checking account ending in 5512 (“JPMC 5512”) and
business savings account ending in 2151 (“JPMC 2151”) at a JP
Morgan Chase Bank branch in Atlanta, Georgia. Both
JPMC 5512 and
JPMC 2151 were opened in the name of Springfield Aviation Company,
LLC, and ONYEMA was the sole authorized signatory on both accounts.
In total, from 2010 through 2018, wire deposits amounting to over $44.9 million transferred from foreign accounts into ONYEMA’s Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan Chase accounts.
The US authorities said it has also seized funds in, at least, three bank accounts it said were traced to both Air Peace chiefs.
The funds listed in the indictment included: ” $4,017,852.51 in funds seized from JP Morgan Chase Bank account number XXXXXXXXXXX5512 held in the name of Springfield Aviation Company, LLC; $4,593,842.05 in funds held in Bank of Montreal Canada account number XXXXXXX7523 held in the name of Springfield Aviation Inc. and $5,634,842.04 in funds held in Bank of Montreal Canada account number XXXXXXX7515 held in the name of Bluestream Aero Services, Inc.”
Meanwhile, the United States and Canadian governments have directed the International Police, INTERPOL, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to effect arrest, extradition of this fugitive back to America for immediate prosecution after which he would be transferred to Canada for criminal trial.
To ensure his quick arrest, Onyema’s huge mansions in Atlanta and roaming mobile phone number 404-467-xxxx are presently under intense security surveillance as undercover detectives daily visit his home located at 3475 Oak Valley RD NE #40, Atlanta, GA 30326 , 3390 Fairburn RD SW #K171 Atlanta, GA 30331.
The funds will be forfeited to the United States if “upon conviction of one or more of the offenses alleged” counts one to thirty-six.
Onyema reportedly added: “I am innocent of all fraud charges in United States of America. I work hard for my money. I am ready to face the court in America to prove my innocence and clear my name”
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