US govt offers $5,000 reward to locate Nigerian woman sentenced for romance scam

The United States government is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of 46-year-old Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, a Nigerian woman who failed to report to federal prison after being convicted of romance fraud.

Hall, of Atlanta, Georgia, was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 23, 2026, for failure to report to the Bureau of Prisons to serve her sentence, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced on Wednesday, October 28.

Hall, a Nigerian citizen and US permanent resident, had been sentenced to eight years in prison by US District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo for her role in a romance scam.

She is currently at large, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.

According to a criminal complaint, Hall was indicted in April 2024 by a federal grand jury in New Orleans for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She was arrested in Atlanta and granted bail. She subsequently pleaded guilty.

In January 2026, Judge Milazzo sentenced Hall to 96 months in prison, but permitted her to remain on bail and ordered her to report to her designated Bureau of Prisons institution by March 25, 2026, to serve her sentence.

However, Hall did not report as ordered. According to GPS data from her monitoring device, her last known location was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 24, 2026, where the device ceased operating. She had provided her probation officer with her flight information to Minnesota, where she was designated to serve her sentence, but airline records showed she did not board that flight.

Court documents show Hall conspired to defraud mostly older women in a romance scam. Her co-defendant, Kenneth G. Akpieyi, of Marietta, Georgia, was convicted after a four-day jury trial in July 2025 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors said members of the conspiracy falsely represented themselves as generals, philanthropists or entrepreneurs living outside the United States. They met victims on Facebook, Instagram and similar social media platforms, gained their trust and asked them to move conversations to WhatsApp or other encrypted platforms. They then fostered romantic relationships and asked victims to send money for fraudulent reasons, such as charitable work or to assist sick family members.

Akpieyi and Hall organised a company, Le Beau Monde LLC, which they used to further the scam. Hall deposited victim funds into accounts held in the name of her company and then transferred them to accounts at other financial institutions, including foreign banks.

Hall admitted responsibility for $851,207 in losses to victims, while Akpieyi was found to be responsible for losses exceeding $3.5 million. Akpieyi was remanded into custody after trial and is currently serving his sentence.

United States Attorney David I. Courcelle said, “Hall was convicted for defrauding our vulnerable, elderly citizens out of their retirement funds. Her flight from the law demonstrates her utter disregard of our judicial system. We will continue to pursue Hall, and any person who may be facilitating her failure to appear to serve her federal prison sentence.”

If convicted of failure to report, Hall faces a maximum of ten years’ imprisonment to be served consecutively to her prior sentence, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years’ supervised release and a $100 mandatory assessment fee. The case has been allotted to US District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown under Criminal Action No. 26-255 “G”.

The FBI New Orleans Field Office is investigating the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew R. Payne, Senior Litigation Counsel, is in charge of the prosecution.

Anyone with information on Hall’s location is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov.

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