Paulinus Okoronkwo
By Shade Damiro
A United States federal court has convicted Paulinus Okoronkwo, a Nigerian-American and former General Manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), now NNPC Limited, for accepting a $2.1 million bribe.
Okoronkwo was found guilty of transactional money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors told the court that while serving as NNPC’s upstream division head, he abused his position by taking the money from Addax Petroleum, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Sinopec, China’s state-owned oil giant.
The $2.1 million, wired in October 2015 to a trust account belonging to Okoronkwo’s Los Angeles law firm, was disguised as payment for consultancy services. In reality, it was a bribe meant to secure favourable drilling rights in Nigeria.
During the four-day trial last month, prosecutors presented evidence that Addax executives falsified records, misled auditors, and dismissed employees who raised concerns about the suspicious transaction.
Okoronkwo, who also practised immigration, family, and personal injury law in Koreatown, Los Angeles, later used almost $1 million of the illicit funds as a down payment on a home in Valencia, California. He also failed to declare the income in his 2015 tax returns.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Addax orchestrated the scheme by drafting an engagement letter with Okoronkwo’s firm, using a fake Lagos address to disguise the bribe as legitimate legal fees.
The statement further revealed that Okoronkwo attempted to cover up the crime. In June 2022, he lied to federal investigators, claiming the money was client funds and denying that it was used to purchase his California home.
U.S. District Judge John Walter has fixed December 1, 2025, for sentencing. Okoronkwo faces up to 10 years in federal prison on each money laundering charge, another 10 years for obstruction of justice, and five years for tax evasion.
