Tampa school's former business manager sentenced in $1.1M tuition scam

The former business manager at a prominent religious private school in Tampa has been sentenced to federal prison for committing bank and wire fraud for stealing tuition money from the school and lying to get a mortgage.

James John Melis, 54, of Largo, was sentenced July 14 by U.S. District Judge Kathryn K. Mizelle to serve five years and four months in prison and to pay $1.12 million — $439,177 of which is to be forfeited and $684,000 in restitution. When released, he will be under supervised release for five years, according to a statement.

While prosecutors have not publicly disclosed the name of the school where Melis worked, a sentencing memorandum pleading for a reduced jail time filed by his attorney identifies it as Hillel Academy, a private Jewish school in Tampa. In an email to the Business Observer, Allison Oakes, the head of school, confirmed the information in the court filing and wrote that Hillel spoke to families when the fraud first happened, and has since "put this far behind us. This is not even a blip on anyone's radar screen." She requested that the Business Observer not name the school.