As we’ve reported here frequently over the years, it’s long been known that the various COVID relief programs turned out to be a favorite target for scammers, who lined up in massive numbers to vacuum cash out of programs that were hastily put in place with little to no oversight of where the money was going. The losses mounted into the tens of billions. Some of the thieves were eventually identified and prosecuted, but most of the money will never be recovered. Now that the COVID money is drying up, however, the scammers are in need of new targets. Not to worry! There’s always plenty of taxpayer money waiting to be plundered and Janet Yamanaka Mello of Texas found an extremely lucrative way to fleece the American military for her own benefit. She stole more than $100 million from the Army over a period of six years and spent it on a luxurious lifestyle. As a bonus, the funds were intended to be used to provide vital services to military children and families. (USA Today)
A Texas woman who stole nearly $109 million from a grant program intended to provide services for military children and families to fund her lavish lifestyle was sentenced Tuesday to federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, was sentenced to 15 years in federal court in San Antonio, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said in a news release. According to a criminal court docket, Mello pleaded guilty in March to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing a false tax return for a scheme that went undetected by the U.S. Army for six years. […]
– Read More: hotair.com
