Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo

Former General Manager of NNPC's Upstream Division. Convicted by a US federal jury in August 2025 of three counts of transactional money laundering (18 USC §1957), tax evasion (26 USC §7201), and obstruction of justice (18 USC §1512). Sentenced 23 February 2026 by Judge John F. Walter to 87 months in federal prison for accepting a $2.1M bribe from Addax Petroleum in October 2015, routed through his Los Angeles law firm IOLTA disguised as a consultancy fee. Also ordered to pay $923,824 restitution to the IRS for tax evasion. Note: No parallel EFCC / ICPC prosecution surfaced — convicted abroad, untouched at home.