46-year-old romance scammer vanishes at US airport before starting 8-year prison sentence, FBI offers ₦7m reward to find her

She was sentenced to eight years for participating in a romance scam that cost victims more than $850,000.

The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to her arrest. If convicted of failing to report, she faces another 10 years in prison.

A Nigerian woman, Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, convicted of participating in a romance fraud scheme in the United States, has disappeared after her electronic monitoring device went silent at an airport, just a day before she was expected to report to prison to begin an eight-year sentence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a reward of up to $5,000 (approximately ₦7 million) for information leading to the arrest of 46-year-old Hall.

The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, who disappeared before reporting to prison. According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Hall’s electronic monitoring device last transmitted a location from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 24, 2026.

She was expected to report to a federal prison facility in Minnesota the following day, March 25, but failed to show up.

Investigators said Hall had informed her probation officer that she intended to travel to Minnesota to begin serving her sentence.

However, airline records showed that she never boarded the flight she had declared she would take. Her monitoring device also stopped transmitting after its last recorded location at the Atlanta airport.

Phone records subsequently suggested that she travelled to Dulles International Airport in Virginia, although authorities have not publicly established her whereabouts.

Hall was sentenced to 96 months (eight years) in federal prison on January 28, 2026, after pleading guilty to participating in a romance fraud conspiracy involving victims across the United States.

According to the DOJ, Hall and her co-defendant, Kenneth G. Akpieyi, were involved in a romance fraud scheme that targeted women through social media platforms.

Members of the network allegedly created fake online identities, posing as wealthy businessmen, philanthropists and military generals living outside the United States.

They approached women online, developed romantic relationships with them and eventually persuaded them to send money under false pretences.

Some victims were told that the money was needed for charitable projects or sick relatives.

Hall and Akpieyi used a company called Le Beau Monde LLC to facilitate the operation and receive money from victims.

Hall admitted responsibility for losses totalling $851,207, while Akpieyi was held responsible for more than $3.5 million in victim losses.

Akpieyi was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in January 2026.

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The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, who disappeared before reporting to prison. Following Hall’s failure to report to prison, a federal arrest warrant was issued on March 31, 2026.

She was subsequently charged with failing to report to federal prison, and a grand jury returned an indictment on October 23, 2026. The DOJ announced the indictment on October 28.

If convicted of the new offence, Hall could face an additional sentence of up to 10 years in prison, to run consecutively to her existing eight-year sentence. She could also face a fine of up to $250,000.

The FBI is asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact its tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit information through its official website.

Hall remains wanted over the failure-to-report charge. The new charge is an allegation that must be established in court.