Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former senior official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), has forfeited a multi-million dollar mansion in Valencia, California, to the U.S. government following his conviction on multiple federal charges, including transactional money laundering.
The forfeiture order, signed by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, seizes the luxury property, valued at approximately $2.5 million, after prosecutors successfully demonstrated that the asset was purchased with the proceeds of an international bribery and corruption scheme.
A preliminary order of forfeiture, dated October 3, 2025, directed that all of Okoronkwo’s rights and interests in the property—located at 25340 Twin Oaks Place, Valencia—be immediately transferred to the U.S. government. The investigation was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and IRS Criminal Investigation.
The ruling follows a federal jury’s verdict on August 28, 2025, which found Okoronkwo, 58, guilty of three counts of transactional money laundering, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice.
According to court documents, the forfeiture is directly tied to the money laundering counts. Prosecutors proved a “requisite nexus” between the illegal financial transactions and the California property, establishing that a substantial portion of the illicit funds was used for the down payment on the residence in November 2017.
The forfeiture will become final upon his formal sentencing, which is currently scheduled for December 1, 2025. The U.S. government is now authorized to seek clear title to the mansion and proceed with its liquidation.
Okoronkwo, a dual U.S.-Nigerian citizen who also operated a law firm in Los Angeles, was convicted for receiving a $2.1 million bribe in 2015 while serving as the General Manager of the Upstream Division of the NNPC.
The evidence presented at his four-day trial in the Central District of California revealed that the bribe was paid by Addax Petroleum, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil conglomerate Sinopec.
Addax allegedly paid the bribe in exchange for Okoronkwo’s influence in securing more favorable financial terms for their lucrative drilling rights, which prosecutors noted were worth billions of dollars. The company reportedly calculated that it stood to lose billions if favorable terms were not secured.
To conceal the corruption, Okoronkwo and Addax created a fake engagement letter that listed a non-existent address for his law firm in Lagos, Nigeria. Furthermore, Okoronkwo failed to declare the $2.1 million payment on his 2015 federal income tax return.
In addition to the financial crimes, Okoronkwo was found guilty of obstruction of justice for lying to federal investigators in June 2022. During the interview, he falsely claimed he had not used any of the $2.1 million bribe to purchase a house and that the funds represented legitimate client money rather than income.
Okoronkwo, who was a foreign official owing a fiduciary duty to the Nigerian government while in his NNPC role, now faces severe penalties. For the money laundering counts, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison for each count, along with up to 10 years for obstruction of justice and up to five years for tax evasion. He is currently free on a $50,000 bond awaiting his December sentencing.
