Does This Look A Woman Who Stole Over $100M From The US Army, But Is Still In Line To Receive Her Pension And Benefits?
A millionaire conwoman accused of scamming the US Army out of $100million has been allowed to retire with full benefits - despite being under criminal investigation.
Janet Yamanaka Mello is accused of using ill-gotten money to buy 80 supercars and 31 homes.
She was arrested in December but pleaded not guilty and is due to return to court in February.
The 57-year-old from San Antonio, who was not held in jail ahead of her trial, is accused of a mammoth six-year fraud that she kept hidden from army brass.
She allegedly created a shell company in 2016 to stash huge sums destined for military youth programs across the country.
But Mello was finally rumbled when IRS agents started digging into her finances and how she was affording luxury properties, vacations and supercars.
An Army spokesman said: 'The command has no authority to impact Ms. Mello's retirement.
'I don't see how one thing is related to the other,' he said of the investigation impacting those benefits.
Mello worked as a civilian finance manager at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, most recently making $130,000 per year.
Her retirement is covered by the Federal Employee Retirement Service (FERS), which offers her a basic benefit plan, social security and thrift savings plan.
Janet, Janet, Janet...this is day 1 fraud/theft stuff. If you're going to steal $100M from anywhere, let alone the Federal Government, you've got to play it cool. Watch Goodfellas for me one time. You don't go buying things like, oh I don't know...80 super cars, a mansion in Maryland, and 30 other homes. You gotta lay low and wash that money. You need to know when to leave well enough alone. Maybe just have one or two super cars and if you're going to buy a mansion, buy it in the Caribbean with cash. Better yet, find a spouse and do it in their name. Nancy Pelosi has proven that allowing your husband to commit financial crimes that you benefit from is literally all you need to do.
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That's how it's done. Right out in the open. Nobody even seems to care.
This is why I think I would actually be a great financial fraud guy. I couldn't really execute the scheme, but if I did I wouldn't touch it. Nothing bring me joy. I like money. I'd love to have more of it. $100M sounds amazing. It's more about the idea of money though because super cars and mansions would do nothing for me. Not even sure I'd upgrade my 55" TV if I had $100M. So, if you're out there and you yourself are raking in millions of ill gotten gains, my DMs are open. I will sit on it for you. I might take a weekend trip to like Steamboat or something this winter, but that's about it.