By United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia
– Allen Onyema, the Chairman, CEO, and founder of Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, has been charged in a superseding indictment with obstruction of justice for submitting false documents to the government in an effort to end an investigation of him that resulted in earlier charges of bank fraud and money laundering. Ejiroghene Eghagha, the airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, was also charged for participating in the obstruction scheme, as well as in the earlier bank fraud counts.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “The diligence of our federal investigative partners revealed the defendants’ alleged obstruction scheme, making it possible for the defendants to be held accountable for their aggravated conduct of attempting to impede a federal investigation.”
“These cases represent the continued commitment of the Drug Enforcement Administration to identify and hold accountable those who engaged in fraud and money laundering,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.
“Allegedly, Onyema and his accomplices fraudulently used the U.S. banking system in an effort to hide the source of their ill-gotten money,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Lisa Fontanette, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office. “Today’s superseding indictment is indicative of the dedication IRS-CI special agents and our law enforcement partners have, as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, to neutralize threats to the United States from criminal organizations.”
“The charges announced today demonstrate the criticality of diligence and truth in criminal justice proceedings,” said Steven N. Schrank, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta that covers Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and our partners are committed to pursuing those who seek to exploit our nation’s financial system and any efforts to cover up illegal activity.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the superseding indictment, and other information presented in court: Onyema, a Nigerian citizen and businessman, is the CEO and Chairman of Air Peace, a Nigerian airline founded in 2013. Between 2010 and 2018, Onyema travelled frequently to Atlanta, where he opened several personal and business bank accounts. More than $44.9 million was allegedly transferred into his Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources.
Beginning in approximately May 2016, Onyema, together with Eghagha, allegedly used a series of export letters of credit to cause banks to transfer more than $20 million into Atlanta-based bank accounts controlled by Onyema. The letters of credit were purportedly to fund the purchase of five separate Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace and were supported by documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals. The documents purported to show that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a business registered in Georgia.
However, the supporting documents were allegedly fake – Springfield Aviation Company LLC was owned by Onyema and managed on his behalf by a person with no connection to the aviation business, and Springfield Aviation never owned the aircraft. The company that allegedly drafted the appraisals did not exist. Eghagha allegedly participated in this scheme as well, directing the Springfield Aviation manager to sign and send false documents to banks and even using the manager’s identity to further the fraud. After Onyema received the money in the United States, he allegedly laundered over $16 million of the proceeds of the fraud by transferring it to other accounts.
In May 2019, upon discovering that he was under investigation in the Northern District of Georgia for bank fraud, Onyema and Eghagha allegedly directed the Springfield Aviation manager to sign a key business contract, but also specifically told her to not date the document. In October 2019, Onyema allegedly caused his attorneys to present that same contract, now falsely dated as being signed on May 5, 2016 (prior to the bank fraud that began in 2016), to the government in an effort to stop the investigation and unfreeze his bank accounts.
Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, 61, of Lagos, Nigeria, and Ejiroghene Eghagha, 42, of Lagos, Nigeria, were indicted on November 19, 2019, on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud, and three counts of credit application fraud. Additionally, Onyema was charged with 27 counts of money laundering, and Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft. On October 8, 2024, they were both charged in a superseding indictment alleging an additional count of obstruction of justice and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The case is criminal action number 1:19-CR-464.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictments only contain charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Commerce, and Department of Treasury are investigating this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford and Christopher J. Huber are prosecuting the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Updated October 11, 2024
Meet Allen Onyema’s Prosecutor, US Attorney Buchanan
United State Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia
Ryan K. Buchanan is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Mr. Buchanan was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on November 15, 2021, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 27, 2022.
Ryan K. Buchanan
As the chief federal law enforcement official in the Northern District of Georgia, U.S. Attorney Buchanan oversees the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought in the district on behalf of the United States. He leads an office of approximately 250 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel in its mission to enforce federal criminal law, advocate for the victims of crimes, and represent the United States’ interests in federal court – including in matters involving domestic and international terrorism, organized crime, gang violence, public corruption, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, civil rights violations, whistleblower actions, and financial and healthcare fraud. The district serves over seven million people.
Mr. Buchanan serves on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), a select group of United States Attorneys who advise the Attorney General on matters of policy, procedure, and management. Specifically, Mr. Buchanan serves as Vice-Chair of the AGAC’s Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee and leads the Foreign Influence and Nation-State Threats Working Group. Mr. Buchanan also serves on the AGAC’s Office, Management, and Budget Subcommittee.
Mr. Buchanan joined the Department of Justice in 2010. From 2010 to 2013, Mr. Buchanan served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. Since 2013, he has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia, where he has also served as the National Security and Anti-Terrorism Council Coordinator and as Deputy Chief of the Violent Crime and National Security Section.
As a federal prosecutor, Buchanan has prosecuted cases involving the support of foreign terrorist organizations and attempts by would-be domestic terrorists to acquire weapons of mass destruction. He has also prosecuted and supervised cases involving violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking; crimes involving the exploitation of children via child pornography production and distribution; and organized crime cases involving national gangs.
Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Buchanan was in private practice at McGuireWoods LLP. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Inge P. Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Mr. Buchanan received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2005 and his B.S. from Samford University in 2001.
