FBI Offers $5,000 Reward for Nigerian-U.S. Resident Convicted in Romance Fraud Who Vanished Before Prison Term
Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall was due to surrender for an eight-year sentence. Investigators say her GPS device last signaled at Atlanta’s airp
The FBI has announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, a 46-year-old Nigerian citizen and U.S. permanent resident accused of fleeing before she was due to begin an eight-year prison sentence for her role in a romance-fraud scheme
Hall was sentenced in January 2026 to 96 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jane Milazzo and ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by March 25. Authorities say she failed to report as directed
Investigators said GPS data from her monitoring device showed her last known location was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 24, 2026, where the device stopped transmitting. Hall reportedly told her probation oduled to fly to Minnesota to serve her sentence, but airline records showed she never boarded the flight.
A federal grand jury indicted her on October 23, 2026, for failing to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.
Hall had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud mostly older women through romance scams. Court documents said members of the syndicate posed online as generals, philanthropists and entrepreneurs, built romantic relationships with victims and later persuaded them to send money under false pretences.
Hall and her co-defendant, Kenneth Akpieyi, allegedly used Le Beau Monde LLC to process victims’ funds. Hall admitted responsibility for $851,207 in losses, while Akpieyi was held responsible for more than $3.5 million and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
For Nigerians in the diaspora, the case is a stark reminder of how romance fraud schemes can cross borders—and how U.S. authorities pursue defendants even after conviction.
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