How Harry and Meghan were welcomed to Nigeria by a fugitive airline boss wanted in the US over $20M money laundering operation

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were welcomed to Nigeria last week by a fugitive federally charged in the United States for allegedly orchestrating a $20 million money laundering and bank fraud scheme, DailyMail.com can reveal.

CEO and Chairman of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, whose airline took the royals on their flight from the capital Abuja to the largest city Lagos on May 12, was a key member of the welcome committee that met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when she landed on the tarmac as part of their three-day tour through Nigeria.

Onyema, dressed in navy blue and wearing sunglasses and a red kufi hat, was part of a small group of dignitaries, including senior military and government officials, who were photographed alongside the Sussexes as they disembarked their Air Peace plane.

Founded just over a decade ago by Onyema, Air Peace flies internationally and is the largest airline in West Africa.

Now DailyMail.com has exclusively learned that the 59-year-old businessman is a wanted man in the United States, facing multiple charges related to millions of dollars in alleged fraud, laid out in a federal indictment filed in November 2019.

Onyema, dressed in navy blue and wearing sunglasses and a red kufi hat, was part of a small group of dignitaries, including senior military and government officials, who were photographed alongside the Sussexes as they disembarked their Air Peace plane.

The indictment, obtained by DailyMail.com, accuses Onyema of allegedly “using his status as a prominent corporate executive and airline director to launder more than $20 million from Nigeria through U.S. bank accounts.”

There is no indication that Harry or Meghan were aware of Onyema’s history before meeting him.

DailyMail.com also understands that the couple had planned to use a different airline but plans were changed at the last minute.

The charges were filed by former U.S. Attorney Byung J “BJay” Pak, who has since left office. The case will now be prosecuted by Ryan Buchanan, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, who took over the role in 2022.

Speaking at the time of the filing, Pak said of the man who delighted the Sussexes during their ‘private’ tour of his country: ‘Onyema is alleged to have abused his status as a prominent business leader and airline director while falsifying documents used to commit fraud.’

Robert Murphy, the agent in charge of the DEA field division in Atlanta, added: “Allan Onyema’s status as a wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted the American banking system, but his trail of deceit and deceit came to an abrupt halt.”

The indictment goes on to allege that Onyema engineered several “innocent-sounding multi-million dollar asset purchases that were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam.”

It said Onyema is the founder and chairman of several organizations in Nigeria, including the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development and All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited.

DailyMail.com has exclusively learned that the 59-year-old businessman is wanted in the United States in connection with a bank fraud scheme.

Between 2010 and 2018, more than $44.9 million was reportedly transferred from foreign sources to Onyema’s Atlanta-based accounts

There is no indication that Harry or Meghan were aware of Onyema’s history before meeting him. Meghan is greeted in the photo by Onyema

Beginning in 2010, he began traveling regularly to Atlanta, where he opened several personal and business bank accounts.

Between 2010 and 2018, more than $44.9 million was reportedly transferred to his Atlanta-based accounts from foreign sources.

Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013 and, according to the indictment, traveled to the United States in the following years and purchased several aircraft.

Onyema is accused of using his status as a prominent business leader to launder more than $20 million from Nigeria through U.S. bank accounts.

However, the Justice Department claims that more than $3 million of the money used to purchase the plane “allegedly came from bank accounts of the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development, All- Time Peace Media Communications Limited. and Every Child Limited.”

Air Peace’s Head of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, has also been charged along with Onyema.

Both men were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit credit application fraud and three counts of credit application fraud.

In addition, Onyema was charged with 27 separate counts of money laundering, while Eghagha was charged with committing aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.

Investigators allege that beginning in about May 2016, the two men used a series of export letters of credit to induce banks to transfer more than $20 million to bank accounts in Atlanta controlled by Onyema. The letters of credit were intended to finance Air Peace’s purchase of five Boeing 737 passenger aircraft.

The letters were supported by documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale and appraisals showing that Air Peace purchased the aircraft from Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a company registered in Georgia. But investigators say the supporting documents were fake.

Springfield Aviation Company LLC, owned by Onyema and managed by an individual with no ties to the aviation industry, never owned the plane in the first place and the company that allegedly prepared the appraisals did not exist.

In October 2022, U.S. citizen Ebony Mayfield, a former Springfield Aviation Company employee, was sentenced to three years’ probation and a $4,000 fine for her role in the alleged scheme after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia filed charges against had submitted to her.

Charges against Onyema and Eghagha remain pending, with both men maintaining their innocence.

Neither man responded to calls and emails to Air Peace’s offices in Nigeria and Britain.