A United States court has issued a warrant of arrest for Chairman/CEO of Air Peace Limited, Allen Onyema over alleged money laundering and bank fraud in the States.
On Friday, the United States Department of Justice had issued a statement on its website indicting Onyema for alleged bank fraud and money laundering to the tune of $20 million.
The New Diplomat had earlier reported that Mrs. Ejiroghene Eghagha, Air Peace’s head of finance and administration, was also indicted and an arrest warrant issued equally against him.
Read more: Breaking: Onyema Reacts To $20M Fraud Indictment By U.S, Claims Allegations ‘Unfounded’
The warrant was signed by Justin Anand, an American magistrate of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Georgia, on November 19. According to Premium Times, the warrant authorised U.S. Marshals Service to take Onyema into custody.
Presently, it remains unclear whether the U.S. authorities have sought an extradition of Mr Onyema as part of efforts to execute warrant of arrest issued against him.
But the U.S. and Nigeria have a mutual legal assistance policy that allows both countries to extradite suspects facing criminal charges. Several Nigerians have been sent to the U.S. to stand trial for alleged fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regularly arrests suspects wanted by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation for fraud or other criminal allegations.
The two Nigerian business executives were accused of conniving to commit money laundering and bank fraud for several years. The U.S. Department of Justice made the allegations public on Friday, but did not mention that an arrest warrant had been issued for Messrs Onyema and Eghagha.
According to details of the arrest, Onyema used several non-commercial entities he registered to conduct commercial businesses in the United States.
The allegations also included how Mr Onyema facilitated fraudulent letters of credit to American banks to procure aircraft, equipment and luxury goods. About $14 million traced to his bank accounts in the U.S. and Canada have been frozen as federal authorities pursue a final forfeiture order.
Meanwhile, Onyema in a statement issued by his counsel on Saturday morning, dismissed the charges, claiming they’re “strange” and “unfounded.”
