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The United States government has filed a request with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to approve the forfeiture of approximately $14 million in assets belonging to the CEO of Air Peace, Allen Ifechukwu Onyema.
This move follows a recent superseding indictment outlining serious allegations of fraud and money laundering against Onyema and his associate, the Chief of Administration and Finance at Air Peace, Ejiroghene Eghagha.
The indictment includes multiple counts against the defendants: Count One alleges conspiracy to commit bank fraud, while Counts Two through Four outline specific instances of bank fraud.
These serious charges highlight the extensive nature of the alleged fraudulent activities involving Onyema and Eghagha.
Count Five pertains to conspiracy to commit credit application fraud, followed by Counts Six through Eight for credit application fraud. Additionally, Counts Nine through Thirty-Five address charges of money laundering.
If convicted of the offenses outlined in Counts One through Five, the defendants will be required to forfeit any property derived from the alleged criminal activities. This includes significant sums held in bank accounts associated with their businesses.
Specifically, the U.S. government seeks forfeiture of: $4,017,852.51 from a JP Morgan Chase Bank account held by Springfield Aviation Inc.
$4,393,842.05 from a Bank of Montreal account, also associated with Springfield Aviation Inc.
$5,634,842.04 from another Bank of Montreal account linked to Blue Stream Aero Services, Inc.
The indictment further states that if any of the forfeitable properties cannot be located, have been transferred, or have diminished in value, the U.S. government intends to seek the forfeiture of other assets belonging to the defendants equivalent to the value of the forfeitable properties.
The legal proceedings are being overseen by U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford and Christopher J. Huber.
AMBusiness earlier reported that the U.S. government has indicted the CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema on charges of obstruction of justice.
Onyema is accused of submitting false documents to impede a federal investigation into bank fraud and money laundering, along with Ejiroghene Eghagha, the airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance.
