United States government has charged the founder of Nigerian airline, Air Peace, Allen Onyema, with an alleged $20 million fraud and money laundering, the US Department of Justice, announced on Friday in a statement.
According to the indictment, Mr Onyema allegedly moved the funds from Nigeria through U.S. bank accounts using falsified documents in the purchase of airplanes. Charged alongside Mr Onyema is the airline’s chief of administration and finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, who was indicted for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In a bid to expand its regional and local operations, in September 2018, Air Peace placed an order for 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 and earlier this year the airline purchased 10 brand new Embraer 195-E2 planes from Brazil in a deal said to be worth $212.6 million.
According to U.S. prosecutors, in 2010, Mr Onyema opened several bank accounts in the U.S. and moved over $44.9 million into the accounts domiciled at Atlanta.
In May 2016, Mr Onyema alongside Mr Eghagha, prosecutors said, allegedly used a series of export letters of credit to transfer more than $20 million into the bank accounts.
The letters were used to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes.
Prosecutors, however, said the letters were accompanied by fake supporting documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals proving that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a business registered in Georgia.
