A US court has set 28 October as the date for the sentencing of Ebony Mayfield, a co-conspirator in an alleged US$20 million letter of credit (L/C) fraud involving Allen Onyema, founder of the Nigerian airline, Air Peace.

Onyema and head of administration and finance at Air Peace, Ejiroghene Eghagha, deny allegations against them in the case. Mayfield initially pleaded not guilty to one charge of bank fraud but in June she changed her plea to guilty.

US indictmentIn 2019, the US department of justice issued an indictment against Onyema, on the grounds of money laundering and bank fraud.

Mayfield, as manager of Springfield Aviation, was subsequently accused of helping Onyema in falsifying documents backing L/Cs used for the purchase from Springfield Aviation of aeroplanes for Air Peace.

Prosecution case

Prosecutors allege that in 2016, Onyema used a series of export L/Cs to cause banks to transfer more than US$20 million into Atlanta-based bank accounts controlled by Onyema.

The L/Cs were purportedly to fund the purchase of five separate Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace.

Fake documents

The L/Cs were supported by documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals apparently proving that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from Springfield Aviation, a business registered in Georgia.

But the supporting documents were fake. Springfield Aviation, which never owned the aircraft, is owned by Onyema and was managed by Mayfield who is said to have no connections with the aviation business. Mayfield agreed to sign and send false documents to banks.

After Onyema received the money in the US, he allegedly laundered over US$16 million of the fraud proceeds by transferring it to other accounts and used the proceeds to fund purchases of expensive cars and luxury goods.

No court appearances

Onyema alongside head of administration and finance at Air Peace, Ejiroghene Eghagha, face 36 charges at the US court of conspiracy, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and credit application fraud.

But they have not yet appeared in court, neither have they sent any lawyers to represent them in the US legal proceedings.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.