Texas Woman Called “Gucci Goddess” Stole Over $100 Million From The US Army

A Texas woman once enjoyed living a lavish life of luxury, by owning multiple homes, cars, and diamond jewelry. All paid for by money stolen from the US Army. Now, she is heading to prison.

Janet Yamanaka Mello was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison recently after being convicted of five counts of fraud and another five counts of filing false tax returns.

Mello previously worked in the Child & Youth Services Department at Fort Sam Houston and from 2016 to 2023 she owned and operated a business called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development. According to Business Insider, Mello used the business to apply for grants through the military's 4-H partnership program.

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Business Insider reports that Prosecutors said that Mello's business had the "sole purpose" of taking in donations that Mello "fraudulently secured by way of her position as a CYS financial program manager."

How Much Money Did Janet Yamanaka Mello Steal From The US Army?

So how much money was Mello able to steal? According to Business Insider, Mello approved 49 grants in a six-year period that totaled up to $108,917,749. Almost $109 million dollars.

With that money Mello purchased 80 vehicles, over 1,500 pieces of jewelry, clothing and of course, real estate.

Lavish Spending Brought Mello Down

It wasn't the US Army that caught Mello. And it's possible she could have continued her scheme if she had not made a critical mistake. Spending the money. According to Business Insider, the IRS said Mello's spending didn't add up and her "lavish lifestyle" was well above her reported income.

"Mello's penchant for extravagance is what brought her down," Lucy Tan, acting special agent in charge of the IRS' field office in Houston, said in the statement. "We identified that her reported income was well below the lavish lifestyle she lived.

According to USA Today, Mello spent more than $788,000 on jewelry in October and November of 2022. Bought a Range Rover in 2023 for $264,000, and purchased property in Canyon Lake, Texas for more than $3.3 million dollars. Video from KSAT shows some of what authorities seized from her.

Mello also failed to accurately report her income for 5 years. She will spend 15 years in federal prison.