In a verdict that underscores the U.S. government’s aggressive pursuit of international corruption, a California federal jury has convicted Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former top official of Nigeria’s state oil company, for accepting a $2.1 million bribe from a Swiss energy firm. The 58-year-old faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced on December 1, 2025.
Okoronkwo, who once served as General Manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), was found guilty on multiple counts, including three counts of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice. The conviction followed a four-day trial before Judge John F. Walter in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
According to court filings, Okoronkwo received $2,105,263 in October 2015 from Addax Petroleum, the Geneva-based subsidiary of China’s state-owned Sinopec. Prosecutors said the transfer, disguised as a consultancy fee and routed through Okoronkwo’s law firm, was in fact a bribe to secure favourable financial terms from Nigeria’s state oil corporation.
The U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Addax Petroleum misclassified the payment as legal services, misled auditors, and dismissed executives who questioned the deal. The funds were channelled through a client trust account at Okoronkwo’s law firm before being used for personal transactions, including a $983,200 down payment on a house in Valencia, California, in 2017.
Investigators also established that Okoronkwo omitted the $2.1 million payment from his 2015 U.S. federal income tax return and later lied to federal investigators in 2022, claiming the funds were client money rather than income.
Under federal statutes, Okoronkwo faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of illicit monetary transaction, another 10 years for obstruction of justice, and five years for tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is set for December.
The case has drawn international attention, highlighting Washington’s resolve to prosecute cross-border corruption in the oil sector, particularly where foreign firms exploit weak governance to secure lucrative deals.
