On October 23, 2026, a federal grand jury indicted Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia, for failing to report to the Bureau of Prisons to serve a sentence.
Ms Hall, a Nigerian citizen and U.S. permanent resident, was sentenced to eight years in prison by U.S. District Judge Jane Milazzo for her role in a romance scam. Ms Hall is currently at large, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.
“Anyone with information on Emuobosan Emmanuel Hall’s location should call 1-800-CALL-FBI or reach out online at https://tips.fbi.gov. The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward leading to her arrest,” said the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday.
According to a criminal complaint in this matter, a federal grand jury in New Orleans indicted Ms Hall in April 2024 on conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Authorities arrested her in Atlanta, Georgia, and granted her bond. Ms Hall subsequently pleaded guilty. In January 2026, the judge sentenced Ms Hall to 96 months in prison. The judge permitted Ms Hall to remain on bond and ordered her to report to her designated Bureau of Prisons institution to serve her sentence by March 25, 2026.
However, Ms Hall did not report as ordered.
According to GPS data from her monitoring device, Ms Hall’s last known location was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 24, 2026, where the device ceased operating. Ms Hall had provided her probation officer with her flight information to Minnesota, where she was designated to serve her sentence.
According to airline records, Ms Hall did not board that flight.
Previously, Ms Hall pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud mostly older women in a romance scam. Her co-defendant, Kenneth Akpieyi, of Marietta, Georgia, was convicted after a four-day jury trial in July 2025 and sentenced by the judge to 25 years in prison.
According to evidence presented at trial and court documents, members of the conspiracy falsely represented themselves as generals, philanthropists, or entrepreneurs living outside the United States.
Conspirators would meet victims on Facebook, Instagram, and similar social media platforms, gain the victims’ trust, and ask them to move their conversations to WhatsApp or another encrypted platform.
Thereafter, the perpetrators would foster a romantic relationship with their victims and ask them to send money for fraudulent reasons, such as to help with charitable work or to assist sick family members.
According to court documents, Mr Akpieyi and Ms Hall organised a company, Le Beau Monde LLC, which they used to further the romance scam. Ms Hall would deposit victim funds into accounts held in her company’s name and then transfer those funds to accounts at other financial institutions, including foreign banks.
Ms Hall admitted responsibility for $851,207 in losses to victims of this scheme, while Mr Akpieyi was found responsible for victim losses exceeding $3.5 million. Mr Akpieyi was remanded into custody after trial, and he is currently serving his sentence in the Bureau of Prisons.
If convicted, Ms Hall faces a maximum term of 10 years of imprisonment, to be served consecutively to her prior sentence. She may be fined up to $250,000, and she may receive a term of supervised release of up to three years. She must also pay a $100 mandatory assessment fee. The matter has been allotted to U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown under Criminal Action No. 26-255 ‘G’.
