The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has issued an arrest warrant for Ejiroghene Eghagha, the 42-year-old Chief of Finance and Administration of Nigerian airline Air Peace. The warrant, issued on October 8, 2024, brands Mrs. Eghagha as a fugitive and orders her immediate arrest. This development comes amid fresh criminal charges against Allen Onyema, Air Peace’s owner, for his role in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Eghagha and Onyema are accused of fabricating documents in an attempt to obstruct justice and prevent the forfeiture of millions of dollars seized by U.S. authorities. The scandal stems from a 2019 indictment in which Onyema was charged with bank and wire fraud related to the purchase of Boeing aircraft through Springfield Aviation, a company he established in 2016.
Onyema allegedly raised letters of credit from U.S. banks to “purchase” planes from Springfield Aviation, even though Air Peace had already bought the aircraft. To cover his tracks, Onyema and Eghagha created a fraudulent “Aircraft Sales and Management Agreement” between Springfield Aviation and Air Peace, backdating it to 2016. This document was submitted by their attorney to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a failed attempt to resolve the case.
Investigators uncovered email communications that revealed Eghagha’s role in orchestrating the fraudulent scheme. She directed a Springfield Aviation employee, Ebony Mayfield, to sign the forged agreement without dating it, further implicating her in the conspiracy.
The fresh charges of obstructing justice have reignited the case against Onyema, who has been wanted by U.S. authorities since 2019. Despite owning an airline that operates international flights, Onyema cannot travel to the U.S. or its allied nations for fear of arrest and extradition.