AVIATION

Harry And Meghan Markle’s Visit: Newspaper Scandalizes Air Peace Boss, Allen Onyema

<h4>Harry And Meghan<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;dailymail&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;article-13418423&sol;Harry-Meghan-welcomed-Nigeria-fugitive-fraudster-wanted-laundering&period;html&quest;ito&equals;native&lowbar;share&lowbar;article-nativemenubutton">MailOnline<&sol;a>&comma; described as the most widely-read newspaper website in the world&comma; has discredited Dr&period; Allen Onyema&comma; chairman Air Peace&comma; describing him as a fugitive&comma; who should not have been included among the Nigerian officials who received Prince Harry and Meghan Markle&comma; Duke and Duchess of Sussex&comma; who visited the country last week&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In its report&comma; titled &colon; <strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;EXCLUSIVE&comma; How Harry and Meghan were welcomed to Nigeria by a fugitive airline boss wanted in the US over &dollar;20M money laundering operation&comma;”<&sol;strong> the paper disclosed that the Anambra State born Onyema allegedly used <em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive to launder more than &dollar;20million from Nigeria through US bank accounts&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;The story&comma; by the Mail Online&comma; is reproduced below unedited<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were welcomed to Nigeria last week by a fugitive who has been federally indicted in the United States for allegedly orchestrating a &dollar;20million money laundering and bank fraud scheme&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;dailymail&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;article-13418423&sol;Harry-Meghan-welcomed-Nigeria-fugitive-fraudster-wanted-laundering&period;html&quest;ito&equals;native&lowbar;share&lowbar;article-nativemenubutton">DailyMail&period;com<&sol;a> can reveal&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Air Peace CEO and Chairman&comma; Dr&period; Allen Onyema&comma; whose airline the royals took for their flight from the nation&&num;8217&semi;s capital Abuja into its largest city Lagos on May 12 was a key member of the welcoming committee that met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they touched down on the tarmac as part of their three-day-tour of Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dressed in navy and wearing shades and a red kufi hat&comma; Onyema was one of a small group of dignitaries&comma; which included senior military and government officials&comma; photographed alongside the Sussexes as they deboarded their Air Peace aircraft&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Founded by Onyema just over a decade ago&comma; Air Peace flies internationally and is the largest airline in West Africa&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Now&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;dailymail&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;article-13418423&sol;Harry-Meghan-welcomed-Nigeria-fugitive-fraudster-wanted-laundering&period;html&quest;ito&equals;native&lowbar;share&lowbar;article-nativemenubutton">DailyMail&period;com<&sol;a> has exclusively learned that the 59-year-old businessman is a wanted man in the United States&comma; facing multiple charges linked to millions of dollars&&num;8217&semi; worth of alleged fraud set down in a federal indictment filed in November 2019&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;25094" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-25094" style&equals;"width&colon; 299px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-25094" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;mail-online-logo-cropped-version&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Harry And Meghan Markle’s Visit&colon; Newspaper Scandalizes Air Peace Boss&comma; Allen Onyema" width&equals;"299" height&equals;"173" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-25094" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>The Mail Online<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The indictment&comma; obtained by DailyMail&period;com&comma; accuses Onyema of allegedly &&num;8216&semi;using his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive to launder more than &dollar;20million from Nigeria through US bank accounts&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There is no suggestion that either Harry or Meghan were aware of Onyema&&num;8217&semi;s history before they met him&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;DailyMail&period;com also understands that the couple had planned to use a different airline but plans were changed at the last minute&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The charges were filed by former US Attorney Byung J &&num;8216&semi;BJay&&num;8217&semi; Pak who has since left office&period; The case is now being pursued by US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan Buchanan who took over the role in 2022&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking at the time of filing Pak said of the man who gladhanded the Sussex&&num;8217&semi;s during their &&num;8216&semi;private&&num;8217&semi; tour of his country&comma;<em><strong> &&num;8216&semi;Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Robert Murphy&comma; the agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta field division added&colon; &&num;8216&semi;Allan Onyema&&num;8217&semi;s status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud&period; He corrupted the US banking system&comma; but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The indictment goes on to allege that Onyema set up various &&num;8216&semi;innocent sounding multi-million-dollar asset purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam&&num;8217&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It states that Onyema is the founder and chairman of several organizations across Nigeria&comma; including the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony&comma; International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development and All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Beginning in 2010&comma; he began traveling frequently to Atlanta where he opened several personal and business bank accounts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Between 2010 and 2018 over &dollar;44&period;9million was allegedly transferred into his Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013 and&comma; according to the indictment&comma; traveled to the United States in following years and purchased multiple airplanes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the Department of Justice alleges&comma; over &dollar;3million of the funds used to purchase the aircraft&comma; &&num;8216&semi;allegedly came from bank accounts for the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony&comma; International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development&comma; All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited and Every Child Limited&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Air Peace&&num;8217&semi;s Chief of Administration and Finance&comma; Ejiroghene Eghagha&comma; has also been charged along with Onyema&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;25095" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-25095" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-25095" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;05&sol;Meghan-300x169&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Harry And Meghan Markle’s Visit&colon; Newspaper Scandalizes Air Peace Boss&comma; Allen Onyema" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"169" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-25095" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>Harry And Meghan Markle in Nigeria<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Both men were charged on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud&comma; three counts of bank fraud&comma; one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud and three counts of credit application fraud&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In addition&comma; Onyema was charged with 27 separate counts of money laundering while Eghagha was charged with committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Investigators allege that&comma; beginning in approximately May 2016&comma; the two men used a series of export letters of credit to cause banks to transfer more than &dollar;20million into Atlanta-based bank accounts controlled by Onyema&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The letters of credit were purportedly to fund the purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The letters were supported by documents such as purchase agreements&comma; bills of sale&comma; and appraisals proving that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Springfield Aviation Company LLC&comma;<&sol;a> a business registered in Georgia&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But&comma; according to investigators&comma; the supporting documents were fake&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Springfield Aviation Company LLC&comma; which is owned by Onyema and managed by a person with no connection to the aviation business&comma; never owned the aircraft in the first place and the company that allegedly drafted the appraisals did not exist&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In October 2022 American citizen Ebony Mayfield&comma; a former staff member of Springfield Aviation Company was sentenced to three years&&num;8217&semi; probation and fined &dollar;4&comma;000 for her role in the alleged scheme after charges were filed against her by the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The charges against Onyema and Eghagha remain pending with both men maintaining their innocence&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Neither man responded to calls and emails to Air Peace&&num;8217&semi;s offices in Nigeria and the UK&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;21069" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-21069" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-21069" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;06&sol;Allen-Onyema-300x169&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Harry And Meghan Markle’s Visit&colon; Newspaper Scandalizes Air Peace Boss&comma; Allen Onyema" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"169" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-21069" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>Allen Onyema&comma; Air Peace boss<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;

Openlife Reporter

Recent Posts

Fidelity Bank Elevates Learning & Hygiene Standards For Makoko Schoolchildren

Fidelity Bank Elevates Learning & Hygiene Standards   OpenLife Nigeria reports that leading financial institution,…

8 minutes ago

Emirates And Air Peace Activate Bilateral Interline Agreement, Enhancing Seamless Global Connectivity

Emirates And Air Peace Activate Bilateral Interline Agreement OpenLife Nigeria reports that building on their…

4 hours ago

Portable Clarifies Relationship Status: “I Don Get Wife Na Money I Dey Look For”

Portable Clarifies Relationship Status OpenLife Nigeria reports that Nigerian controversial street-hop star Portable has finally…

5 hours ago

Billionaire Businessman And Renowned Nightlife Investor, Obi Cubana, Turns His Back On Tinubu’s 2027

Billionaire Businessman And Renowned Nightlife Investor   OpenLife Nigeria reports that Nigerian billionaire businessman and…

6 hours ago

Anu  Paternity Saga Takes New Turn As Another Man Denies Davido’s Ownership

  Anu  Paternity Saga Takes New Turn   OpenLife Nigeria reports that the ongoing paternity…

7 hours ago

Tiwa Savage Crowns Kie Kie the GOAT, Praises Her Originality, Consistency

Tiwa Savage Crowns Kie Kie the GOAT   OpenLife Nigeria reports that award-winning Afrobeats icon…

15 hours ago

This website uses cookies.