A millionaire conwoman has been accused of swindling the US Army out of $100million over six years by putting cash into her fake military youth business and splurging it on 31 homes and more than 70 supercars and motorcycles.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, is accused of taking military funds and spending millions of dollars on jewelry, clothing, luxury vehicles and real estate in one of the biggest fraud cases the army has ever dealt with.
Mello worked for the US Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas as a CYS Financial Program Manager.
In 2016, she allegedly created a shell company, Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development, which she fraudulently used to collect money from the 4-H military partnership grant.
The company, which was meant to help the children of army personnel, allegedly never did anything of the sort. Instead, it just received dozens of monetary grants – without examination – for six years.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, is accused of taking military funds and spending millions of dollars on blingy jewelry, clothing, luxury vehicles, and real estate in one of the biggest fraud cases the army has ever dealt with
Mello’s $3.1million property in Preston, Maryland. She regularly filed fraudulent paperwork and deposited grants a total of 40 times into her fake business during a six-year period, securing over $100,000,000 for herself, court documents allege
This is Mello’s $2.3million estate in Castle Rock, Colorado
This home was listed as one of the properties to seize. It cost Mello $1.1million and is in San Antonio, Texas
Mello also owns this $870,000 home in Lakewood, Colorado. Mello had amassed a portfolio of homes in Texas, Maryland, Colorado, Washington, and New Mexico – all of which, the prosecutors claim, she bought with the frauded cash.
Now, Mello has nearly 80 vehicles and 31 properties across five states up for forfeiture- as federal prosecutors allege she lived a life of luxury and opulence that was clearly not supported by her $130,000 a year government salary.
She reported that her company CHYLD earned a profit of $483 on revenue of $2,152 for training consultations in 2017. But since then, she has not filed any tax returns.
She regularly filed fraudulent paperwork – and deposited grants into her fake business 40 times, securing over $100,000,000 for herself, documents allege.
Transaction details show that she wire transferred $264,874 from the account to buy herself a 2023 Land Rover Range Rover last year.
She also sent herself $3,308,157 to purchase real estate property in Canyon Lake, Texas, documents state.
The court has listed a total of 78 luxury cars and motorbikes that Mello owns – and has demanded the assets in a bill of forfeiture. They include numerous Maseratis, Ferraris, Aston Martins, Mercedes, Teslas, Harley-Davidsons, and Land Rovers.
As well as vehicular assets, they have named 31 of her real properties. These span across multiple states – with mansions worth over $3 million, ranches, sprawling acres of farmland, and luxury high-rise apartments and condos.
Mello had amassed a portfolio of homes in Texas, Maryland, Colorado, Washington, and New Mexico – which, the prosecutors claim, she bought with the frauded cash.
Mello worked for the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas as a CYS Financial Program Manager – where she was able to allegedly move money into her shell company
Mello also owns a 2003 Aston Martin Vanquish
Among her collection that has been ordered to be seized is a 1955 Ferrari Fratelli
Documents also claim that Mello has six bank accounts, and she held a minimum of $32,000 in each.
It was the IRS flagged that her lifestyle – buying million-dollar homes multiple times a year – was not supported by her salary.
Their criminal investigations division worked with army investigators as they put the pieces of the puzzle together – before Mello was criminally indicted in December 2023.
On December 6, the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Texas said that a federal grand jury in San Antonio charged Mello with 10 counts.
The statement said: ‘Mello claimed that CHYLD provided services to military members and their families, when, in reality, CHYLD did not provide any services.
‘The indictment alleges that Mello instead used the funds to buy millions of dollars in jewelry, clothing, vehicles, and real estate. Additionally, Mello is alleged to have falsified the digital signature of one of her supervisors on multiple occasions.’
Mello is charged with five counts of mail fraud, four counts of engaging in a monetary transaction over $10,000 using criminally derived proceeds, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
The San Antonio woman is facing up to 20 years in prison for each fraud charge, 10 years for each spending change, and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge.