Army Employee Stole $109M, Bought 82 Cars

The phony organization civilian Army employee Janet Yamanaka Mello used to scam a grant program for military families wasn't called the Buy Janet 82 Cars Foundation, but that's what she did with the cash, prosecutors say. Mello, 57, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing $109 million from the grant program between 2016 and 2023, CBS News reports.

• The scam. Mello, who worked at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, was tasked with determining which organizations were eligible for funds from the 4-H Military Partnership Grant program, set up to provide service for the children of military families, the New York Times reports. She created a business she called the Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development and used her position to funnel grants to it, prosecutors said.

• How she spent $109 million. Prosecutors said that in addition to the 82 vehicles, including a Maserati and a 1954 Corvette, Mello and her husband brought property worth more than $20 million in Texas, Colorado, and Maryland. In a single day, she spent $923,000 on jewelry, prosecutors said. Lucy Tan, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation's Houston field office, said: "Mello's penchant for extravagance is what brought her down. We identified that her reported income was well below the lavish lifestyle she lived."
• The charges. Mello pleaded guilty to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing a false tax return.
• US Attorney: Mello "betrayed the trust of the government agency she served and repeatedly lied in an effort to enrich herself," Jaime Esparza, US Attorney for the Western District of Texas, said in a news release. "Rather than $109 million in federal funds going to the care of military children throughout the world, she selfishly stole that money to buy extravagant houses, more than 80 vehicles, and over 1,500 pieces of jewelry. Her actions reflect exactly the opposite of what it means to serve your country."

(More US Army stories.)