Former NNPC Official Convicted in U.S. Court for $2.1M Bribery Scheme.

Los Angeles, California – A United States District Court in California has convicted Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), on multiple charges linked to a $2.1 million bribery scheme. The verdict, delivered after a four-day trial, found the dual Nigerian-American citizen guilty of three counts of unlawful monetary transactions, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors presented evidence showing that Okoronkwo, who is also a practicing lawyer in Los Angeles, received over $2.1 million in October 2015 from Addax Petroleum, a Swiss subsidiary of Chinese oil giant Sinopec. According to court filings, the money was funneled into the trust account of Okoronkwo's law firm, disguised as "consultancy fees." Prosecutors argued that this was a sham arrangement designed to conceal a bribe intended to secure favorable financial terms for Addax's oil drilling operations in Nigeria.

Further investigations revealed that Addax executives had misrepresented the transaction, misled auditors, and dismissed staff who raised concerns about the deal.

Money Trail and Obstruction

In a key detail of the case, investigators established that Okoronkwo allegedly used nearly $1 million of the illicit funds as a down payment for a house in Valencia, California. Additionally, he was found to have failed to declare the bribe money in his 2015 federal tax returns.

When confronted by federal agents in 2022, Okoronkwo reportedly obstructed justice by insisting the funds belonged to a client and not to him. The jury, however, rejected this defense and convicted him on all counts.

Presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter has scheduled sentencing for December 1, 2025. Okoronkwo faces a potential prison sentence of up to 25 years. The investigation was led by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

According to former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad, Okoronkwo's ties with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) were severed in 2024 following his indictment. The conviction stands as another high-profile case highlighting corruption within Nigeria's oil sector.