Female Fed. EE accused of stealing $100M from Army retires!

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Con artist accused of stealing $100M from Army allowed to retire with full benefits: 'I earned it'

A con artist who is accused of defrauding the US Army out of $100 million has been given the green light to retire with full benefits.
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Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, who is under criminal investigation, brazenly claims she "earned" her civil service retirement package despite allegedly using the funds to purchase over 30 homes, luxury cars and jewelry through the seven-year scheme.

The military admitted that there is nothing that can be done to withhold Mello's benefits as they're protected under a federal law that was held up in government bureaucracy.

"The command has no authority to impact Ms. Mello's retirement," an Army spokesperson told the San Antonio Express-News.

"In accordance with 5 U.S. Code Section 8312, an individual may be denied an annuity or retired pay on the basis of the service of the individual, if the individual is convicted of treason, rebellion or insurrection, or other similar offenses. There is no similar statutory authority for denying retired pay based on a conviction of other offenses."

Albert Flores, Mello's attorney, told the outlet that his client "earned" her retirement benefits.

"She earned it. I don't see how one thing is related to the other," he said of the ongoing criminal investigation.

Flores said Mello's case will be resolved quickly, as she's been "very cooperative" in turning over assets.

He said she will likely sell some of her luxe possessions to reimburse officials.

Mello, who worked as a civilian financial program manager at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, hatched a plan in 2016 to create a bogus business called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development so she could siphon funds she received from the Army to herself.

Most recently, she's raked in $130,000 per year at her role.

The Internal Revenue Service flagged Mello's suspicious business when she included it on her personal tax returns in 2017.

Still, her retirement plan is covered by the Federal Employee Retirement Service, which includes a basic benefit plan, Social Security and a savings plan.

In a press release issued in December 2023, the Department of Justice said Mello "allegedly stole more than $100 million in Army funds by regularly submitting fraudulent paperwork that indicated an entity she controlled was entitled to receive funds from the Army."

Mello claimed her business provided services to military members and their families through the 4-H program, but instead just funded a lavish lifestyle for herself.

Mello purchased 31 real properties in Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, Texas and Washington.

Along with the massive amount of real estate she was buying, Mello splurged and purchased at least 80 vehicles.

Authorities also seized over $18 million in cash from six different accounts connected to Mello.

Mello was arrested in December and 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.

She was released without bail and the US District Court for the Western District of Texas awaits a decision on whether Mello strikes a plea deal or faces jury selection and trial on Feb. 12.

If found guilty, Mello faces a maximum prison sentence of 142 years.

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Now her pension can go towards money on her books.

142 years in prison is Fed time, a day for a day-- she will die in prison

Why??????

Why do so many people think they are clever enough to pilfer, pillage, and loot so much as one penny (1¢) of Uncle Sammy's money????

When their misdeeds are discovered, it never ends in favor of the thief.
 
As a first offense, and considering that she's likely going to enter into a plea agreement for the charges (her cooperation suggests she doesn't dispute she took the money) my prediction is she won't get a sentence anywhere close to 142 years. It'll be a long sentence, but it may provide her a chance for release if she lives a long life. Perhaps she'll be able to spend the last couple years of her life in a wheelchair in some nursing home.

She has incentive to return as much of the money as possible ASAP as that will affect what kind of deal the U.S. Attorney will consider and it will affect just how hard the IRS hits her for this scheme. Even if she returns it all, because it wasn't in the same tax year, she'll owe a considerable amount to the IRS. While the article doesn't mention it, I would not be at all surprised if criminal tax charges aren't stacked on top of the fraud, although that wouldn't extend her prison stay all that much.

How did the DOD financial branch (the exact name of which I don't remember) not catch this earlier? Most people committing this scale of fraud can't hide the fact that that much money has been taken for all that long. Either someone who was responsible for monitoring employees for this kind of thing screwed up (in which he or she should be promptly fired and, if the rules allowed for it, lose his or her pension) or there is some systemic problem with the DOD's fraud detection systems and procedures that needs to be fixed and upgraded to the highest level of security that federal agencies use to monitor systems that handle the government's money.

The worst part is that she was taking money that rightfully belongs to veterans, not money from the general treasury (which would also be appalling but at least wouldn't potentially hurt military retirees). Our veterans deserve to have better oversight of their pensions than this.
 
Now her pension can go towards money on her books.

If she gets any of that pension after conviction. Between restitution orders, fines, and IRS tax levies, there might not be anything left for her to use from her pension. While pensions are protected from attachment for most debts, they may be attached for criminal fines, criminal restitution orders, and the IRS may levy a portion of the pension for delinquent taxes. She may have to rely on friends and relatives to add money to her prison account to get things she needs/wants. I am not at all sympathetic to her prison woes.
 
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