A United States District Court has sentenced Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former general manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to 87 months in federal prison. The sentencing, handed down on February 23, 2026, follows his conviction for orchestrating a multi-million dollar bribery and money laundering scheme while serving as a high-ranking foreign official.
United States District Judge John F. Walter also ordered Okoronkwo, 58, to pay $923,824 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and to forfeit over $1 million in net proceeds from the sale of a California home purchased with the illicit funds. The court found that Okoronkwo, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nigeria, abused his position as general manager of the NNPC’s upstream division to solicit and receive a $2.1 million bribe.
The bribe was paid in 2015 by Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Sinopec, to secure favourable oil drilling rights in Nigeria. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the payment was disguised as "consultancy fees" for legal services. Okoronkwo, who also practised law in Los Angeles, received the funds through a client trust account using a ruse that included a fake business address in Lagos.
"A Los Angeles-area lawyer was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison for receiving a $2.1 million bribe while serving as an officer of Nigeria’s state-owned oil company," the U.S. Attorney's Office stated in an official release. Prosecutors noted that Okoronkwo owed a fiduciary duty to the Nigerian government, which he violated by prioritising personal gain over public service.
Evidence presented at his 2025 trial revealed a systematic cover-up. Addax executives reportedly falsified internal records to categorise the bribe as legal fees and fired whistleblowers who questioned the transaction. Okoronkwo later lied to federal investigators in 2022, claiming the funds were client assets rather than personal income, which led to an additional conviction for obstruction of justice.
The State Bar of California suspended Okoronkwo’s law licence in January 2026, shortly before his sentencing. This case concludes a multi-year investigation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation into international corruption and the exploitation of the U.S. financial system.