A United States District Court in California has convicted Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), over a $2.1 million bribery scheme linked to oil drilling rights in Nigeria, News360 Nigeria reports.
Okoronkwo, 58, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the US and a practising lawyer in Los Angeles, was found guilty on multiple charges, including three counts of unlawful monetary transactions, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice.
The verdict came after a four-day trial in August, during which prosecutors presented evidence that he received $2,105,263 in October 2015 from Addax Petroleum, a Swiss subsidiary of Chinese oil giant Sinopec, under the guise of consultancy fees.
Prosecutors told the court the payment was a bribe to secure favourable financial terms for Addax’s drilling operations in Nigeria.
Investigators said Addax executives misled auditors and fired staff who raised concerns about the transaction, with the company’s Nigerian interests valued in the billions.
Court records revealed that in November 2017, Okoronkwo used $983,200 from the illicit funds as a down payment for a home in Valencia, California, and failed to declare the bribe money in his 2015 tax returns.
When questioned by federal agents in 2022, he allegedly obstructed justice by claiming the funds belonged to a client.
The jury rejected his defence and found him guilty on all counts. Judge John F. Walter, who presided over the case, scheduled sentencing for December 1, 2025. Okoronkwo faces up to 25 years in prison, 10 years each for unlawful transactions and obstruction of justice, and five years for tax evasion.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation led the probe, supported by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs. Assistant US Attorneys Alexander Schwab, Nisha Chandran, and Alexander Su prosecuted the case.
Okoronkwo, who was released on a $50,000 bond, was removed from the NNPCL in 2024 following his indictment, according to former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad.
The conviction is the latest in a series of corruption scandals rocking Nigeria’s oil sector and its global partners.
