Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 10 counts related to her alleged fraud scheme, including mail fraud, criminal handling of money and aggravated identity theft. Mello faces a total of 142 years in prison.
According to the authorities, Mello’s scheme went unnoticed for seven years. Part of her role at Fort Sam Houston included determining funding for a grant program meant to supplement civilian partners. In 2016, she formed a shell non-profit company called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development (CHYLD) and appropriated funds to the company more than 40 times over the past six years.
But allegedly the company did not provide any services and instead gave more than $100 million to herself. Mello largely used the relationships she built up with co-workers and her supervisors but also forged one of her supervisors’ signatures several times to approve some of the transactions, according to media report.
According to the indictment, Mello used her ill-gotten gains to purchase luxury jewelry, 78 vehicles including new and classic cars and motorcycles and 31 properties across several states.
One property in Preston, Maryland, a little more than an hour outside of Washington DC sat on a 58-acre lot and included an infinity pool, three garages capable of holding 55 cars, and 16 bathrooms. According to real estate site Zillow, it sold for $3.1 million in August.
Most of the properties, which also included sites in Texas, New Mexico and Washington State, were valued at more than $1 million.
The fleet of vehicles included a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS, a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, a 1966 Ford Mustang and a 1954 Chevrolet Corvette, among others.
The properties and vehicles are being sized by the government.
Mello also had more than $18 million spread across six bank accounts. If she does not make a deal with prosecutors by January 19, she will face a jury trial and selection, according to court documents.