A United States district court has sentenced Paulinus Okoronkwo, a former senior executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to 87 months in federal prison over a $2.1 million bribery scheme tied to a Chinese oil company.
Okoronkwo, who once served as general manager in NNPC’s upstream division, was convicted of transactional money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice.
Judge John Walter handed down the sentence and ordered him to pay $923,824 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
The court also directed the forfeiture of $1,039,997 from the sale of a California property purchased with illicit funds.
Prosecutors said the payment originated from Addax Petroleum, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Sinopec, China’s state-owned oil giant.
The $2.1 million transfer was wired in October 2015 to Okoronkwo’s law firm trust account in Los Angeles and falsely presented as consultancy fees.
Investigators determined the money was intended to secure favorable drilling rights in Nigeria.
Evidence showed nearly $1 million from the bribe was used as a down payment for a home in Valencia, California. Prosecutors also proved the income was not declared on Okoronkwo’s 2015 tax return.
Okoronkwo was found guilty in August 2025 after a federal trial in California, concluding a years-long probe into cross-border corruption in the energy sector.
The NNPC, now restructured as a limited liability company, has not commented on the sentencing.
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