US court sentences ex-NNPC GM to 87 months in prison over $2.1m Addax bribery scheme

A UNITED States district court has sentenced a former general manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Paulinus Okoronkwo, to 87 months in prison for receiving a $2.1 million bribe from Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned energy conglomerate Sinopec.

The judgment was delivered by John Walter, who also ordered Okoronkwo to pay $923,824 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In addition to the restitution, the court approved the forfeiture of $1,039,997, representing the net proceeds from the sale of a residential property tied to the former oil executive.

Okoronkwo, a Nigerian-American who previously headed NNPC’s upstream division – now operating as NNPC Limited – was convicted in August 2025 on charges of transactional money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice, Economy Post reported. The conviction followed a detailed investigation into payments he received while still serving in public office.

Prosecutors told the court that while occupying a senior role within NNPC, Mr Okoronkwo abused his office by accepting a $2.1 million payment from Addax Petroleum in exchange for helping the company secure favourable drilling rights in Nigeria. The funds were transferred in October 2015 to the trust account of his Los Angeles-based law firm and were falsely described as consultancy fees.

READ ALSO: Ex-NNPC chief loses US property over $2.1m bribery scandal linked to Addax

US authorities said the payment was in fact a bribe. Evidence presented in court showed that Addax executives allegedly falsified company records to classify the transfer as legitimate legal expenses. Internal staff members who raised red flags about the transaction were reportedly dismissed, and auditors were provided with misleading information to conceal the true nature of the payment.

At the time, ex-NNPC senior official was also practising immigration, family, and personal injury law from an office in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Prosecutors revealed that nearly $1 million from the illicit funds was later used as a down payment on a home located at 25340 Twin Oaks Place, Valencia, California 91381. He failed to declare the $2.1 million as income on his 2015 tax return, leading to additional tax evasion charges.

In October 2025, a US court granted the government’s forfeiture application against the Valencia property. The subsequent sale of the home yielded $1,039,997, which the court has now ordered forfeited as proceeds traceable to the bribery scheme.

The case underscores the reach of US anti-corruption and financial crime enforcement, particularly where illicit funds are routed through American financial institutions or used to acquire property within the United States.

Economy Post reported earlier in October that evidence presented at a four-day trial showed that the ex-NNPC official abused his position as the general manager of the upstream division of the NNPC, through which Nigeria’s government developed nation’s fossil fuel and natural gas reserves, including through partnerships with foreign oil companies. In this role, Okoronkwo owed a fiduciary duty to the Nigerian government, being a public official.