Warrant Issued for Permanent Resident from Nigeria for Failure to Report to Federal Prison

NEW ORLEANS - United States Attorney David I. Courcelle announced that, on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Phillips Currault signed a complaint and issued an arrest warrant for EMUOBOSAN EMANUELLA HALL, age 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, for failure to report to the Bureau of Prisons to serve a sentence. HALL, a citizen of Nigeria and a U.S. permanent resident, had been sentenced to eight years in prison by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo for her role in a romance scam. HALL is currently at large.

According to the criminal complaint, HALL was charged in April 2024 by a federal grand jury in New Orleans with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, and was granted bond. HALL subsequently pleaded guilty. In January 2026, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced HALL to 96 months in prison. Judge Milazzo permitted 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, HALL did not report as ordered. According to GPS data from her monitoring device, HALL's last known location was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 24, 2026, where the device ceased operating. HALL had provided her probation officer with her flight information to Minnesota, where she was designated to serve her sentence. According to airline records, HALL did not board that flight. Phone records suggest that HALL traveled to Dulles Airport outside of Washington, D.C.

HALL had pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud mostly older women in a romance scam. Her codefendant, Kenneth G. Akpieyi, of Marietta, Georgia, was convicted after a four-day jury trial in July 2025 and was sentenced by Judge Milazzo to 25 years in prison. According to evidence presented at trial and court documents, members of this conspiracy falsely represented themselves to be generals, philanthropists, or entrepreneurs who lived outside the United States. Conspirators would meet victims on Facebook, Instagram, and similar social media platforms, gain trust from the victims, and then ask the victims to move their conversations to WhatsApp or another encrypted platform. Thereafter, the perpetrators would foster a romantic relationship with their victims and then ask the victims to send money for fraudulent reasons, such as to help with charitable work or to assist sick family members. According to court documents, Akpieyi and HALL organized a company, Le Beau Monde LLC, which they used in furtherance of romance scam. HALL would deposit victim funds into accounts held in the name of her company and then transfer those funds to accounts at other financial institutions, including foreign banks. HALL admitted responsibility for $851,207.00 in losses to victims of this scheme, while Akpieyi was found to be responsible for victim losses exceeding $3.5 million. Akpieyi was remanded into custody after trial, and he is currently serving his sentence in custody of the Bureau of Prisons.

United States Attorney Courcelle stated, "Our office will vigorously enforce the law, particularly when a defendant fails to report to prison to serve her sentence. Her failure to report to prison reflects an utter lack of respect for the law. HALL was sentenced for her role in defrauding women, often of money that they had saved for their retirement. Our office will continue to prosecute fraud wherever it occurs, especially when criminals exploit vulnerable victims."

If convicted, HALL faces a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years of imprisonment to be served consecutively to her prior sentence, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Sections 3146(a)(2) and (b)(1)(A)(i). She may be fined up to $250,000, and she may receive a term of supervised release of up to three years. She also faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.