A representative of a mysterious Chinese oil company was convicted Wednesday on charges that he tried to bribe government leaders in Africa in a case that put foreign officials on the stand to discuss deals, some of which were hatched in the hallways at the United Nations.

The federal trial of Patrick Ho put a spotlight on the methods that a once fast-growing oil company, CEFC China, used to expand its reach from Asia to Africa, Europe and the United States. Mr. Ho, a former government official in Hong Kong who ran a research organization funded by CEFC, was convicted just a little over a year after federal agents arrested him when he was getting off a plane at Kennedy International Airport.

A jury of nine women and three men in Lower Manhattan deliberated for less than a day after a seven-day trial in which Mr. Ho’s lawyers did not call a single witness. Mr. Ho, 69, who has been held in federal custody since his arrest in November 2017, showed little emotion when the verdict was read. As he had throughout the trial, he wore a traditional purple Chinese tunic in court.

He was charged with five counts of conspiracy and attempted bribery under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and three counts of money laundering involving two separate schemes involving officials in Chad and Uganda. The jury convicted him on seven of the counts on a day when the courthouse was largely closed for business to mark the funeral of former President George Bush.