A Lawyer's Bribe: Unraveling a $2.1 Million Oil Scheme

A Los Angeles-area lawyer, Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, 58, has been found guilty of serious charges related to a $2.1 million bribery scheme. The jury's verdict in a federal court in Los Angeles concluded that Okoronkwo, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nigeria, used his position as a Nigerian government official to illegally enrich himself.

The Bribe and Its Purpose

At the heart of the case was a $2.1 million payment Okoronkwo received from Addax Petroleum, a Swiss company owned by a Chinese state-run oil giant, Sinopec. At the time of the transaction, Okoronkwo was a high-ranking official at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), serving as the general manager of its upstream division. In this role, he was responsible for managing partnerships with foreign oil companies, including Addax.

The payment was made in October 2015 and was disguised as a fee for legal services to conceal its true purpose: a bribe. Addax Petroleum made the payment to secure favorable drilling rights in Nigeria, a deal that was worth billions of dollars to the company. To cover up the scheme, Addax fabricated a legal engagement letter with a fake address in Nigeria and lied to auditors.

How the Crime Unraveled

To make the bribe appear legitimate, Okoronkwo had the funds wired to his law firm's Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) in Los Angeles. This made the payment look like client funds.

The trail of deception continued. Okoronkwo used nearly $1 million of the bribe money as a down payment on a house in Valencia, California. He also committed tax evasion by failing to report the $2.1 million on his 2015 federal income tax return.

The case against him was built on these actions, and his attempts to obstruct justice. When federal investigators questioned him in 2022, Okoronkwo lied, claiming the money was client funds and that he hadn't used any of it to buy a house.

The Consequences

Okoronkwo was convicted on three counts of transactional money laundering, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December and faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each money laundering count, up to 10 years for the obstruction of justice count, and up to 5 years for the tax evasion count. This case serves as a powerful reminder that corruption has serious consequences, no matter how complex the scheme.