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The Chairman of Air Peace, Dr Allen Onyema, received commendation from the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, for the airline’s innovative strides, especially the recent launch of direct flights to London.
Air Peace. – the branded airline carrier that owns 70% shares in LIAT 2020 is receiving some unfavorable attention after the airline’s founder and CEO, Dr. Allen Onyema made international headlines after welcoming Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
A 2019 indictment against Onyema by the US, has reared its head after he greeted the couple during their private visit to Nigeria.
They arrived in Nigeria for a three-day visit, during which they were expected to engage in philanthropic activities and foster goodwill. However, their visit was overshadowed by their mode of transportation and the ownership of the airline they used.
Onyema owns the largest airline in Nigeria and West Africa, an airline that is a majority shareholder in LIAT 2020 and which the government of Antigua and Barbuda hopes to launch by the first half of this year.
Several media agencies, including Daily Mail, New York Post, Trinidad and Tobago NewsDay, Times Now, and several others, have published articles calling the CEO of Nigerian airline Air Peace a scammer and fugitive.
Reacting to the allegations, a source close to Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, told the Daily Beast that the couple’s travel in Nigeria was organized by the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff.
They also said that it was unclear whether Harry and Megan knew about the charges.
According to the New York Post, sources within the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office previously told the Daily Mail that Harry and Meghan were “visiting Nigeria in a private capacity” and that the UK government was not involved in “arranging or facilitating” their activities.
US Court documents show that in 2019, Dr. Allen Onyema, the founder of Air Peace, was charged with bank fraud and money laundering for moving more than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes.
The international airline’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
CNN reports suggest that Onyema allegedly used the laundered money, in part, to buy a Lexus, a Rolls Royce, a Mercedes and designer goods at Prada and Louis Vuitton.
He has maintained his innocence, saying back in 2019 that these mere allegations will be refuted and that he never laundered money in his life, nor has he committed bank fraud anywhere in the world.
However, the information has already begun circulating within the Caribbean region, at a time when the Antigua and Barbuda government is trying to shore up financial support from regional leaders to invest in LIAT 2020.
On Sunday, Trinidad and Tobago NewsDay wrote an article headlined “LIAT 2020 Nigerian investor wanted in US for bank fraud”.
Alongside the international headlines about its CEO, the airline faces scrutiny from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority.
The UK authority has alerted Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority about alleged violations of aviation safety regulations by Air Peace. This development follows barely three months after Air Peace launched its Lagos-London route.
A Nigerian daily newspaper, The Punch, reports that two mandatory occurrence reports regarding Air Peace were sent to the UK Civil Aviation Authority on May 14.
These reports, which document aviation safety incidents, have now been forwarded to Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). In response, the association has requested Air Peace to clarify the issues raised.
Air Peace recently commenced operation to London Gatwick from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, which Nigeria has with the UK.
A few months ago, Onyema was also acquitted of business fraud after three years of investigation involving five American government agencies.
The District Court of Atlanta, Georgia, handed down the decision not too long ago, saying that there was no loss against any bank in the indictment suit filed by the Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
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