AIR PEACE BOSS ONYEMA WAS INDICATED.

The Chairman of Air Peace limited in Nigeria, Mr. Onyema is facing multiple charges of money laundering and bank fraud in more than $20 million. A United States jury recently indicted man Onyema and Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace’s head of finance and administration.

Air Peace

Both suspects denied the allegations during a statement Saturday and indicated their determination to fight the charges in court. Although Messrs Onyema and Eghagha are presently believed to be in Nigeria, judges within The U.S. is issuing warrants for their arrest, according to court filings.

The U.S. and Nigeria have an extradition agreement.

On September 5, Russell vineyard, a magistrate at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued a corresponding warrant of arrest for Messrs Onyema and Eghagha in Canada. American prosecutors had wanted the warrant to alter Canadian law enforcement authorities to take the suspects into custody if sighted in their jurisdiction.

As part of a longstanding tradition on cross-border crimes, American authorities have briefed their Canadian counterparts about their case against the 2 Nigerians, documents said. Similarly, on November 19, Justin Anand, a magistrate at the same district issued a separate warrant against Messrs Onyema and Eghagha for their arrest in the united states, especially by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Although the key aspects of the alleged fraud were committed in the U.S., some of the bank accounts used in some of the suspicious transactions were domiciled in Canada.

Several Nigerians have been extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges, but no high-profile citizen of man Onyema’s standing has ever been two-handed over. Buruji Kashamu, a Nigerian politician, has spent decades fighting his surrender to the U.S. on drug charges, using Nigerian courts to frustrate the process. He was elected into the Nigerian Senate in 2015 and served a full four-year term despite several outstanding court warrants, including appellate court rulings in Nigeria and America, for his extradition.

                                                                                                

It was unclear whether American authorities have filed extradition requests for Messrs Onyema and Eghagha supported the court warrants. A spokesperson for the Nigerian attorney-general’s office did not immediately return requests for comments on Saturday afternoon. American prosecutors said the two connived to launder funds and defraud American banks with falsified letters of credit for aircraft and equipment purchases.

The indictment leveled serious charges of money laundering.

Already, several companies which the U.S. authorities alleged man Onyema set up to carry out fraudulent transactions between Nigerian and American banks have had their bank accounts frozen.
At least $14.2 million (N5 billion) had been confiscated in 3 bank accounts run by Mr. Onyema’s companies in the U.S. and Canada. A final forfeiture of the funds is being pursued as part of the charges against the airline executives. Mr. Onyema did not comment about the arrest warrants and funds seizures.

In an earlier statement on Saturday, man Onyema denied the charges and said he was ready to defend his “innocence”.