A San Antonio millionaire impressed her friends with her large portfolio of mansions and other real estate properties.
Janet Yamanaka Mello’s friends didn’t know that she amassed her fortune by using “loopholes” to steal over $100 million from the U.S. Army.
Mello, 57, is accused of embezzling over $103 million from the US Army, according to San Antonio Express News.
She spent the cash on 31 homes and 80 luxury vehicles over a 6-year period, according to prosecutors.
Mello worked as the financial manager of a 4-H program at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, Express News reported.
Her duties included administering the 4-H funds to military families.
She covered her thievery by forging her boss’s signature on fake Army purchase orders and moving the money between her multiple bank accounts.
Authorities say she deposited the money into bank accounts for a defunct business she created as a shell company.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons said Mello was able to conceal her financial crimes because the Army didn’t conduct an audit of the program she managed alone.
“They gave her complete carte blanche, and she found all the loopholes,” he said.
However, the IRS became suspicious of Mello’s extravagant lifestyle which didn’t support her reported income.
On a tax return, Mello claimed her shell company earned a profit of just $483 on revenue of $2,152 for training consultations in 2017.
She didn’t file any tax returns since then.
Meanwhile, Mello made multiple suspicious bank transactions over the years.
She allegedly wired $264,874 from one bank account to buy herself a 2023 Range Rover last year.
She also wired herself $3,308,157 to purchase property in Canyon Lake, Texas, in cash.
A court seized Mello’s assets, including 78 luxury cars and motorbikes. The list included Maseratis, Ferraris, Aston Martins, Mercedes, Teslas, Harley-Davidsons, and Range Rovers.
On December 6, a federal grand jury charged Mello with 10 counts of embezzlement, mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
She was released on a personal recognizance bond and faces 20 years in prison on each count.
