A U.S. federal court in Northern Georgia recently renewed an arrest warrant for Allen Onyema, CEO of Air Peace Limited, as he faces additional allegations connected to a $20 million bank fraud scheme.
This latest development, occurring on October 9, follows new charges against Onyema and his co-defendant, Ejiroghene Eghagha, who serves as Chief of Administration and Finance at Air Peace.
The revised indictment, filed on October 8, includes counts of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, increasing the total charges against Onyema and Eghagha to 38. These charges now span conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud, identity theft, and the recent obstruction allegations.
The original warrant, dating back to 2019, granted U.S. Marshals the authority to apprehend the defendants if they entered Canada. According to court documents, U.S. prosecutors allege that Onyema channeled substantial sums from Nigeria to bank accounts in the United States between 2017 and 2018, disguising the transactions as payments for aircraft acquisitions.
Prosecutors allege that the transferred funds flowed through Springfield Aviation, a U.S.-based firm owned by Onyema, supposedly for the purchase of planes intended for Air Peace. However, investigators claim that Springfield Aviation neither possessed nor sold any aircraft, raising questions about the legitimacy of the transactions. Bank records related to these deals were allegedly falsified to mislead U.S. banks about the true nature of the funds.
Further scrutiny fell on Ejiroghene Eghagha, accused of fabricating purchase agreements and other supporting documents presented to American banks. U.S. authorities also spotlighted Ebony Mayfield, hired by Onyema in 2016 as Springfield’s manager, who signed off on the questionable documents despite having no formal background in aviation or finance; she had previously worked in hospitality as a bartender and waitress. In 2022, Mayfield received a three-year probation sentence for her role in the alleged scheme.
The latest charges against Onyema are tied to actions he purportedly took upon learning of the U.S. investigation in 2019. Prosecutors claim that he directed Mayfield to sign an undated contract, which was subsequently presented to U.S. authorities with a falsified date to interfere with the investigation. This act of alleged document tampering forms the basis of the new obstruction-related charges filed in October.
In the wake of these new allegations, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan issued a statement accusing Onyema of leveraging Air Peace as a “cover” for defrauding U.S. financial institutions. Similarly, IRS Assistant Special Agent Lisa Fontanette criticized the purported abuse of the U.S. banking system to obscure the origins of Onyema’s funds.
Air Peace has responded to the ongoing legal proceedings by asserting Onyema’s innocence and labeling the charges as “mere allegations.” The airline emphasized that it has been fully cooperative with U.S. authorities throughout the investigation. Furthermore, Air Peace assured the public that the legal challenges faced by its CEO would not disrupt the airline’s operations, reiterating its commitment to passenger safety and service reliability.
