“BRIBERY SCANDAL ROCKS NNPC: EX-EMPLOYEE PAULINUS OKORONKWO FACES 25 YEARS IN US PRISON”
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–A former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) employee, Paulinus Okoronkwo, is set to face sentencing on December 1, 2025, for his involvement in a $2.1 million bribery scandal. Okoronkwo, a 58-year-old lawyer, was found guilty of three counts of transactional money laundering, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice.
The Bribery Scheme:
– Guilty Verdict: Okoronkwo was convicted of receiving a $2.1 million bribe from Addax Petroleum, a Swiss-based subsidiary of Sinopec, in exchange for his influence in securing favorable oil agreements in Nigeria.
– Fake Consultancy: The payment was disguised as consultancy fees for negotiating a settlement agreement with the NNPC regarding Addax’s drilling rights in Nigeria.
– Money Laundering: Okoronkwo used $983,200 of the bribe to make a down payment on a house in Valencia, California, in 2017 .
Consequences:
– Maximum Sentence: Okoronkwo faces up to 25 years in federal prison, with potential sentences ranging from 10 years for each money laundering count, 10 years for obstruction of justice, and 5 years for tax evasion.
– Dismissal from NNPC: Okoronkwo was dismissed from his position as a general manager in the upstream department of NNPC after the scandal surfaced .
Background:
– Indictment: Okoronkwo was indicted by the US Attorney’s Office in January 2024 on charges related to money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice.
– Trial: The trial revealed that Okoronkwo lied to federal investigators, telling them he didn’t use the bribe to purchase a house and that the money represented client funds rather than income to his law office .
According to the statement, Okoronkwo had, in October 2015, allegedly received a payment of $2,105,263 from a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Sinopec, Addax Petroleum, into his law firm account.
The statement noted that the money was “purportedly for his work as a consultant who negotiated and completed a settlement agreement with the NNPC with respect to Addax’s drilling rights in Nigeria.”
The statement alleged that investigations by the DoJ revealed that “the engagement letter that Addax signed that month with Okoronkwo’s law office – with a fake address in Lagos, Nigeria – was a ruse intended to conceal the fact that its payment to Okoronkwo was a bribe in exchange for his influence in securing more favourable financial terms relating to its crude oil drilling in Nigeria.”
It continued, “To conceal the illegal bribery scheme, Addax falsely characterised the $2.1 million payment as a payment for legal services, lied to an auditor about the payment, and fired executives who questioned the payment’s propriety.
“To create the false impression that the bribe payment constituted client funds, Okoronkwo received the payment in his law firm’s IOLTA.”
The statement stressed further that the defendant had used $983,200 of the illegally obtained funds to make a down payment on a house in Valencia in 2017.
Okoronkwo was also alleged to have omitted the $2.1 million bribe payment from his 2015 federal income tax return.
“He also obstructed justice in June 2022 when he lied to federal investigators, telling them he did not use any of the $2.1 million to purchase a house and that the money represented client funds rather than income to his law office,” the statement added.
According to the DoJ, Okoronkwo was found guilty after a four-day trial and has now been scheduled for sentencing on December 1 by United States District Judge John F. Walter.
The statement also noted that he now faced a statutory 25 years’ imprisonment for the counts he was found guilty of.
“A Los Angeles-area lawyer was found guilty by a jury of receiving a $2.1 million bribe while serving as an officer of Nigeria’s state-owned oil company in connection with negotiating favourable drilling rights for a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned oil company.
“Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, 58, a.k.a. “Pollie,” of Valencia, who practised immigration, family, and personal injury law out of an office in Koreatown, was found guilty of three counts of transactional money laundering, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice.
“United States District Judge John F. Walter scheduled a December 1 sentencing hearing, at which time Okoronkwo will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each illegal monetary transaction count, up to 10 years in federal prison for the obstruction of justice count, and up to five years in federal prison for the tax evasion count. Okoronkwo is free on $50,000 bond,” the statement noted.
PUNCH Metro could not get the reaction of the defendant as at the time of filing this report because he is in the custody of the FBI.
SOURCE==PUNCH==EXCEPT THE HEADLINE AND FEW PARAGRAPHS
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