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Air Peace founder, Allen Onyema’s alleged co-conspirator pleads guilty to $20m bank fraud

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Allen Onyema and an official of Air Peace also face 36 charges at the U.S. court in connection with the alleged $20 million bank fraud but have yet to show up in court or send lawyers to represent them since November 2019 when they were charged.

Ebony Mayfield, a co-conspirator in an alleged $20 million fraud involving the founder of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has pleaded guilty, we can authoritatively report.

Ms Mayfield pleaded guilty to one of the eight counts filed against her by the U.S. government at the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, in Atlanta, on June 29.

The fraud allegedly spearheaded by Mr Onyema was allegedly perpetrated under the guise of obtaining credit to buy aircraft for Air Peace, a frontline Nigerian airline, in the U.S.

Ms Mayfield was accused of helping Mr Onyema to facilitate the $20 million bank fraud between May 2016 and February 2018 when she worked as the manager for Springfield Aviation Company LLC, owned by the Air Peace founder.

U.S. prosecutors accused her of signing and submitting the false documents used by Mr Onyema to perpetrate the bank fraud in the U.S.

Ms Mayfield, who was arrested on June 7, 2019, for her alleged roles in the alleged scheme, had previously pleaded not guilty to all eight charges filed against her in December 2019.

Her trial was, in March this year, reschduled to start on August 8.

But weeks before the trial date, she changed her plea from not guilty to guilty when she appeared before the trial judge, Eleanor Ross, on June 29.

A copy of the plea agreement she and her lawyer signed with U.S. prosecutors shows she specifically pleaded guilty to Count 5, which is a conspiracy to commit credit application fraud.

“The Defendant (Ebony Mayfield) admits that she is pleading guilty because she is in fact guilty of the crime(s) charged in Count 5,” a copy of the plea agreement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES read in part.

Likely sentence

She risks up to five years’ jail term based on the plea agreement.

Five years’ imprisonment is the maximum jail term provided for in Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, under which she was charged with the offence in Count 5.

There are, however, indications that she would get less than five years at her sentencing already scheduled for September 21.

The plea agreement said if her “cooperation” with the government continues to qualify as “substantial assistance”, prosecutors “will file a motion at sentencing recommending a downward departure from the applicable guideline range.”

If her cooperation continues to qualify as substantial assistance after sentencing, the government said, it would again file “a motion for reduction of sentence.”

The U.S. federal prosecutors in Northern Georgia also agreed “not to bring additional charges against the defendant with the exception of charges resulting from or related to violent criminal activity based on any information provided by the Defendant in connection with the cooperation that was not known to the Government prior to the cooperation.”

Other penalties as Ms Mayfield pleads guilty

Aside from the risk of a maximum five years jail term she faces, the plea agreement also recommends she be fined $250,000, or twice the gain or twice the loss whichever is greatest. The fine is due and payable immediately.

She will also make full restitution due and payable immediately to all victims of the offence(s) and relevant conduct.

The plea agreement also recommends the forfeiture of any and all proceeds from the commission of the offence and any and all property used or intended to be used to facilitate the offence.

She will be subjected to a mandatory special assessment of $100, due and payable immediately.

She also, by pleading guilty, gave up the right to plead not guilty, the right to be tried by a jury, and the right to appeal against her conviction.

If she is not a U.S. citizen, she stands the risk of being expelled from the country after completing her jail term.

“The Defendant recognises that pleading guilty may have consequences with respect to her immigration status if she is not a citizen of the United States. Under federal law, a broad range of crimes are removable offences including the offence to which the Defendant is pleading guilty,” the document said.

But Manubir Arora, Ms Mayfield’s lawyer, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that his client is a U.S. citizen and as such is free from being removed from the country.

Alleged Fraud

Prosecutors say Mr Onyema recruited Ms Mayfield to act as a manager of his Springfield Aviation Company LLC, which he allegedly used for perpetrating the alleged $20 million fraud between May 2016 and February 2018.

Springfield Aviation, according to court documents, was established by Mr Onyema in the U.S. State of Georgia in April 2016 purportedly to specialise in “the wholesaling, trading/ and sale of commercial aircraft and parts”.

Prosecutors say Ms Mayfield was recruited as a manager of Springfield Aviation with the role of entering into aviation-related contracts on behalf of the firm, despite her lack of education, training, or licensing in the review and valuation of aircraft, including aircraft components.

Between November 2016 and October 2017, prosecutors said, Mr Onyema applied for export letters of credit to cause the transfer of funds from a Nigerian bank account for Air Peace to Springfield Aviation’s bank account, “purportedly to fund the purchase of aircraft by Air Peace from Springfield Aviation”.

“The aircraft that was referenced in each of the export letters of credit was never owned or sold by Springfield Aviation,” the prosecutors said.

They added that also the defendants submitted false documents to Wells Fargo (American bank), including fabricated purchase agreements, bills of sale, and valuation documents, in support of the letter of credit to causing the disbursement of funds from Wells Fargo into Springfield Aviation’s account.

Mr Onyema and Air Peace Limited’s Head of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, also face 36 charges at the U.S. court in connection with the alleged fraudulent scheme.

But they have yet to show up or send a lawyer to represent them in court.

Society

Ex-Skye Bank chairman Tunde Ayeni speaks on paternity scandal with former lover, Adaobi Alagwu.

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Former chairman of the board of directors of the defunct Skye Bank (now Polaris Bank) Tunde Ayeni has debunked a report that he reunited with his ex-lover Adaobi Alagwu.

Ms Alagwu, 30, a female lawyer based in Abuja, was said to be Ayeni’s daughter’s classmate when their relationship began.

The lawyer, it was gathered, wants him to admit he is the father of the baby girl she has and take responsibility for her.

Ayeni, however, admitted in a statement released by his media office that his affair with Alagwu set his family backwards and that he would not like to revisit his romance with her.

He said, “Ordinarily, the recent series of media reports linking my name with a lady, Adaobi Alagwu, should not deserve a response from me since the section of the media that is feasting on the issue seems to be uninterested in fact-finding, but mere sensationalism.

“But, given the possibility of even some discerning readers placing some value on the story, this short clarification and disclaimer become necessary.

“I wish to state that, indeed, Ms. Adaobi Alagwu and I had a relationship, which has since ended and, as well-meaning Nigerians can imagine, it was a mistake that has caused my family much pain which I regret and do not wish to continue reliving as a section of the media continues to make me do.”

On the paternity of Alagwu’s child, the businessman explained that the issue “is being resolved and will be resolved in due course but whichever way it is resolved, will never mean a rekindling of the ended relationship between myself and Ms. Alagwu.”

Last year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) pulled back the N25.4 billion fraud case it filed against Ayeni and Skye Bank’s former managing director, Timothy Oguntayo.

The commission’s move followed an out-of-court settlement which the duo struck with the agency involving the forfeiture of about N15 billion in cash and assets.

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Society

Tony ELUMELU Celebrates 60th Birthday with Symposium

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The Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Tony Onyemachi Elumelu, CFR, clocked 60 years on Wednesday March 23, 2023 and in commemoration of this event, a symposium was held in his honour at the Tony Elumelu Amphitheatre in UBA House.

The symposium tagged ’60 for 60’ was attended by 60 young beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, friends and colleagues.

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Society

Seplat Sues Retired Founder Orjiako For Fraudulent Use Of Company’s Letterhead

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Seplat Energy Plc has cut ties with founder, A.B.C. Orjiako and Amaze Limited for transacting on behalf of the company without the approval of the board after retirement.

The energy company said it has also commenced legal action against its retired founder and Amaze Ltd.

The company made the disclosure in a filing seen by THE WHISTLER on Thursday and signed by Mr. Basil Omiyi, Independent Chairman, on behalf of the entire Board of Seplat Energy PLC.

The company said, “Seplat Energy Plc (Seplat Energy or the Company) announces the termination with immediate effect of the Consultancy Agreement between the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary and its co-founder, Dr. A.B.C Orjiako, acting through Amaze Limited.

“Under the Consultancy Agreement, Dr. Orjiako was obliged to provide defined assistance with certain external stakeholder engagements following his retirement from the Board after the 2022 Annual General Meeting in May 2022.”

Orjiako first resgined in November 2021, eight days after Zenith Bank Plc received an order from a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos blocking Seplat from transacting with its embattled founder, Orjiako.

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