A former General Manager (Upstream) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Paulinus Okoronkwo, has been sentenced to 87 months in prison in the United States after being convicted of accepting a $2.1 million bribe from a Swiss oil firm.
Okoronkwo, 58, lived what appeared to be a quiet professional life in the United States, operating a small law practice in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
He handled immigration paperwork, family disputes and personal injury matters for clients who knew him simply as “pollie,” while residing in Rancho Cucamonga.
However, U.S. federal prosecutors later revealed that he was simultaneously serving as general manager of the upstream division of the NNPCL.
In October 2015, $2,105,263 was wired into his law firm’s trust account by Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of Sinopec.
Addax, which held drilling rights in Nigeria, was embroiled in a dispute with the NNPCL over financial terms that threatened significant losses.
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Prosecutors said Okoronkwo was in a strategic position to influence a favourable resolution.
Though Addax signed an engagement letter retaining his Los Angeles firm as a consultant, authorities determined the agreement was fictitious and that the payment was in fact a bribe.
To conceal the transaction, Addax reportedly recorded the payment as legal fees and allegedly misled auditors about its purpose.
Okoronkwo deposited the funds into his Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA), typically used to hold client funds, in an effort to make the transfer appear legitimate.
Between 2016 and 2018, he transferred the money through a shell company, IPO Capital LLC, and spent it on personal expenses, including a vehicle and real estate.
In November 2017, he used $983,200 from the proceeds as a down payment on a home in Valencia, California. He also failed to declare the $2.1 million on his 2015 federal income tax return.
The obstruction charge stemmed from a June 2022 interview with investigators, during which he falsely claimed he had not used the funds to purchase property and described the money as client funds rather than income.
In August 2025, a federal jury found Okoronkwo guilty on three counts of transactional money laundering, one count of tax evasion and one count of obstruction of justice.
U.S. District Judge, John F. Walter sentenced him to 87 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $923,824 in restitution to the IRS, as well as forfeit nearly $1.04 million — the net proceeds from the sale of the Valencia property.
The State Bar of California suspended his law licence in January 2026.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, with support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
While Addax’s involvement was detailed in court proceedings, no public charges have been announced against the company or its current executives.
