Ex-NNPC GM Paulinus Okoronkwo Jailed for Addax Petroleum Bribe

Paulinus Okoronkwo, a former general manager of the Nigeria===NNPC (NNPC) and a dual citizen of the United States and Nigeria, was sentenced to 87 months in a US federal prison. He was convicted of transactional money laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice. The charges stemmed from a $2.1 million bribe he received in October 2015 from Sinopec===Addax Petroleum, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned conglomerate Sinopec. The bribe was disguised as payment for consultancy services but was intended to secure favorable drilling rights for Sinopec===Addax Petroleum in Nigeria. Okoronkwo used nearly $1 million of the bribe money as a down payment on a home in Valencia, California, and failed to declare the income on his 2015 tax return. Sinopec===Addax Petroleum executives falsified records and dismissed staff to conceal the payment. Okoronkwo was ordered to pay $923,824 in restitution to the United States===Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and forfeit $1,039,997 from the sale of his home. His law license was suspended by the State Bar of California.