Nigeria’s foremost anti corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has indicated interest in investigating the #14.9 million wire fraud and money laundering allegation against Air Peace owner, Allen Onyema by the United States.
Making this known to Oceanicnews, a source from the EFCC on Saturday said:
“Upon the receipt of the charges, the EFCC chairman raised a team to probe the allegations against Onyema Eghagha, who were prominently mentioned in the indictment charges by the United States Government.
“The EFCC team is working on what I may term the ‘Nigerian components’ of the indictment including suspicious huge transfer of funds abroad, alleged abuse of letters of credit and money laundering.
“In fact, the Acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu directed the team members to work round the clock at the weekend because it is a case we must work on with speed.
“We are also interested in the roles played by two banks in the country including one that has been on our radar for a while for money laundering. This same bank was implicated in the $115million poll bribery scam in 2015 for which former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke is wanted for trial.
“We need to act because in the indictment, the US indicated its plans to freeze some funds linked with Onyema in some accounts within and outside its jurisdiction. It is standard practice to have collaboration with sister organisations all over the world. We cannot wait till the last minutes before playing our roles.”
The source in response to questions continued: “Certainly, our crack team will conduct a comprehensive investigation into the activities and remittances into the accounts of the four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) /non-profit groups of Onyema.
“Our immediate suspicion is that these four groups are likely to be tools for money laundering. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), tax bodies and other agencies will assist on the status of these organisations.
“We have directed our detectives to ascertain or otherwise if Onyema is allegedly serving as a front for some politically exposed persons (PEPs).”
“The EFCC may also investigate other persons or groups that have assisted Onyema in one way or the other on the allegations against him. The indictment spoke of known and unknown persons.”