Woman Who Scammed $100M From Military Families Sentenced

(RightWing.org) – An Ohio school superintendent established the first 4-H Club chapter in 1902. The youth organization focuses on developing life skills in young people using its four pillars: “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.” In the mid-1990s, the group established the 4-H Military Partnerships (4-HMP) program to support military-connected youth. A federal judge has now sentenced a US Army civilian worker who scammed over $100 million from the 4-HMP program.

On July 23, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas issued a press release announcing that a US district court judge sentenced Janet Yamanaka Mello to 180 months (15 years) imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to five counts each of mail fraud and filing a false tax return.

In December 2023, a federal grand jury from San Antonio indicted Mello for a fraud scheme she conducted while working as a civilian financial program manager at Fort Sam Houston Army Installation. Court documents accused the 57-year-old civilian worker of routinely submitting fraudulent documents indicating that an Army entity she controlled was entitled to receive grant funds through the 4-HMP program.

Mello worked for the Army base’s Installation Management Command’s Child and Youth Services (CYS) program. Court records confirmed that she formed a company called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development (CHYLD).

Prosecutors said Mello created CHYLD for the “sole purpose” of receiving funds from the 4-HMP’s grant program. She facilitated her fraud by securing a position as the program manager tasked with overseeing the CYS finances.

The Justice Department notice explains that Mello deposited her first grant check into her personal bank account. She spent the money on real estate, vehicles, jewelry, and clothing. She “repeated that process 49 times” from December 2016 “through at least August 29, 2023.”

Mello requested approximately $117 million over that roughly six-year period and received approximately $109.9 million. She also “failed to accurately report her income” for tax years 2017 through 2022 by failing to include the money she fraudulently received through CHYLD.