Ex‑NNPC GM Jailed for 87 Months in $2.1m Bribery Case

Ex‑NNPC GM Jailed for 87 Months in $2.1m Bribery Case

A United States federal court has sentenced Paulinus Okoronkwo, a Nigerian-American and former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to 87 months in prison for accepting a $2.1 million bribe from Addax Petroleum, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil giant Sinopec.

The sentencing follows Okoronkwo’s conviction in August 2025 on charges of transactional money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice. The court found that he abused his position at NNPC’s upstream division to receive the illicit payment, which was disguised as consultancy fees but intended to secure favourable drilling rights in Nigeria.

According to prosecutors, the $2.1 million bribe was wired to Okoronkwo’s law firm’s trust account in Los Angeles in October 2015. Evidence presented at trial showed that Addax executives falsified records, misled auditors, and dismissed staff who questioned the transaction, all to conceal the bribery scheme.

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In addition to the prison sentence, Judge John F. Walter ordered Okoronkwo to pay $923,824 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and forfeit $1,039,997, representing proceeds from the sale of a Valencia, California property purchased using the bribe money. Court filings indicate that nearly $1 million of the illicit funds was used as a down payment on the home, which was not declared on Okoronkwo’s 2015 federal tax return.

Okoronkwo, 58, later practised immigration, family, and personal injury law in Los Angeles’ Koreatown before the State Bar of California suspended his law license in January 2026 pending disciplinary proceedings. He also obstructed justice in 2022 by lying to federal investigators about the source and use of the bribe money.

The case underscores the United States’ commitment to enforcing anti-corruption laws and targeting foreign officials who exploit the US financial system for illicit gains. It also highlights the potential legal risks for oil industry executives engaging in corrupt practices tied to international contracts.

Ex‑NNPC GM Jailed for 87 Months in $2.1m Bribery Case