US courtroom orders forfeiture of property linked to ex-NNPC GM convicted over $2.1m bribe

A United States (US) district courtroom has ordered the interim forfeiture of a property in California linked to Paulinus Okoronkwo, a Nigerian American, alleged to have been acquired with proceeds from bribery.

Okoronkwo is a former basic supervisor of the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Company (NNPC), now NNPC Restricted.

In September, the district courtroom discovered Okoronkwo responsible of transactional cash laundering, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors mentioned whereas serving as NNPC’s upstream division basic supervisor, Okoronkwo abused his place by accepting a $2.1 million cost from Addax Petroleum, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of China’s state-owned Sinopec.

The cash, wired in October 2015 to his legislation agency’s belief account in Los Angeles, was disguised as cost for consultancy companies however was a bribe to safe beneficial drilling rights in Nigeria.

The prosecutors had introduced proof that Addax executives falsified data to point out the cost as authorized charges, dismissed inside workers who raised considerations, and offered deceptive info to auditors.

Okoronkwo, who practised immigration, household, and private harm legislation in Koreatown, later used almost $1 million of the bribe cash as a down cost on a house in Valencia, California, whereas failing to declare the earnings on his 2015 tax return.

John Walter, the US district choose, had scheduled December 1 for the sentencing listening to.

THE FORFEITURE

Based on the courtroom paperwork, the choose, on October 3, granted the forfeiture utility filed by the US authorities towards Okoronkwo’s property.

The property is positioned at 25340 Twin Oaks Place, Valencia, California 91381.

“For the explanations set out beneath, any proper, title, and curiosity of the defendant within the following described property (hereinafter, the “Forfeitable Property”) is hereby forfeited to america,” the courtroom order reads.

“The Court docket finds that the federal government has established the requisite nexus between the Forfeitable Property and the offenses described in Counts 1 by 3 the First Superseding Indictment, which charged defendant with violating 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (transactional cash laundering).

“The Forfeitable Property is extra significantly described as: i. The web proceeds of the sale of the actual property positioned at 25340 Twin Oaks Place, Valencia, California 91381, extra significantly described as Tract Quantity 45433, Lot 12, with Assessor’s Parcel Quantity 2826-143-004 (Consolidated Asset Identification System Quantity 24-FBI-001775) (“Forfeitable Property”).

“Upon the entry of this Order, and pursuant to Federal Rule of Prison Process 32.2(b)(3) and 21 U.S.C. § 853, america Legal professional Common (or a designee) is allowed to grab the Forfeitable Property.”

The US authorities had printed a discover asking any one who has curiosity within the forfeited property to point out trigger inside 60 days. (See web page 117 of the connected doc).