US Court Indicts Nigerian Airline Founder Allen Onyema Again, Refuting Acquittal Claims

Written on 28/10/2024
Fact Check AFP

In October 2024, the founder of a prominent Nigerian airline, Allen Onyema, faced a new indictment by a U.S. court, marking the second time in five years.

The latest charges accuse Onyema of submitting false documents to dismiss existing charges of bank fraud and money laundering from 2019. Despite social media reports suggesting he had been acquitted, this claim is false.

Similar misinformation circulated in 2022, with a Nigerian newspaper mistakenly reporting his acquittal based on an inaccurate article. The U.S. district tribunal handling the case has confirmed that Onyema has not been cleared of any charges.



Quoting Nigerian law firm Augustine Alegeh & Co., the post states Onyema has been cleared of fraud charges in the district court in Atlanta.

The account also claims the US court only “ordered a probation and $4,000 fine against a former staff of Springfield Aviation Company Inc., Ebony Mayfield (sic)” in its verdict.

Ebony Mayfield is a US bartender and nightclub dancer who testified she was recruited by Onyema to facilitate fraud in her capacity as manager of his Atlanta-based Springfield Aviation Company. Mayfield was sentenced in 2022 after pleading guilty (archived here and here).

The post, which includes a photo of Onyema, was shared by an account called “IGBO History & Facts”. Igbo is a tribe and language spoken mostly in the southeastern part of Nigeria, and to which Onyema belongs (archived here). 

The account was created in 2015 to serve as an “Igbo Voice” and tell “Igbo stories to the world”. 

Hundreds of other accounts shared the claim elsewhere on X (see herehere and here), Facebook (including herehere and here) and Instagram.

Onyema was first indicted in 2019 alongside his chief financial officer Ejiroghene Eghagha over allegations of moving suspicious funds from Nigeria to American bank accounts in 2017 and 2018.

Source