Ex-NNPC General Manager Convicted in U.S. for $2.1 Million Bribery Scheme

A U.S. federal court has convicted Paulinus Okoronkwo, a Nigerian-American and former General Manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), for accepting a $2.1 million bribe from a foreign oil company. Okoronkwo now faces a possible prison sentence of up to 35 years.

The charges against Okoronkwo include transactional money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice. U.S. prosecutors revealed that while serving as the general manager of NNPC’s upstream division, he abused his official position by accepting a multimillion-dollar payment from Addax Petroleum — a Swiss-based subsidiary of China’s state-owned oil giant, Sinopec.

The payment, sent in October 2015 to a trust account belonging to Okoronkwo’s Los Angeles-based law firm, was falsely presented as compensation for legal consultancy services. However, investigations showed it was in fact a bribe intended to secure favourable oil drilling rights in Nigeria.

During a four-day trial in August, federal prosecutors detailed how Addax executives manipulated internal records to disguise the bribe as legitimate legal fees. Staff who raised concerns were reportedly dismissed, and auditors were misled about the true nature of the transaction.

Okoronkwo, who operated a law practice specializing in immigration, personal injury, and family law in Koreatown, Los Angeles, used nearly $1 million of the funds to purchase a home in Valencia, California. Authorities noted that he failed to declare the bribe as income on his 2015 federal tax return.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Addax believed it stood to lose billions of dollars if it failed to secure continued drilling rights in Nigeria. To conceal the bribe, the company entered into a fabricated agreement with Okoronkwo’s firm using a fake Nigerian address. The funds were funneled through an IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account) to give the illusion of legitimacy.

Further compounding his legal troubles, Okoronkwo was found to have obstructed justice in 2022 by lying to federal investigators. He falsely claimed that the funds were client money and denied using the money to purchase property.

If sentenced to the maximum on all counts, he could face up to 35 years in federal prison.

This case highlights the ongoing efforts by U.S. authorities to investigate and prosecute international bribery and corruption involving American financial institutions and foreign officials.