Key Takeaways
- • Tamara King (also known as Tamara Waln), a former Eastside real estate broker, was convicted on eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and three counts of filing false tax returns following an 8-day jury trial in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
- • The scheme defrauded 22 victims—predominantly Seattle residents—of $2.25 million between August 2009 and December 2018 through a purported real estate fund called Halcyon that promised a 20% annual return on a 10-year investment horizon.
- • King's co-defendant and husband, Paul Waln, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and received a 33-month prison sentence on October 31, 2025, after originally soliciting investors for the fund between 2009 and 2013.
- • Between February 2014 and December 2018, King and Waln jointly conspired to misappropriate fund assets by transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the investment pool to their management company and subsequently to King's personal accounts for personal expenses.
- • The fraud centered on a West Seattle apartment building acquisition that was represented to investors as the initial real estate project, with subsequent diversification into additional real estate ventures; no evidence indicates legitimate project deployment occurred.
Summary
Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Washington secured a conviction against Tamara King, a former real estate broker previously based in Bellevue and Kirkland but now residing in Ohio, on charges stemming from a multi-million-dollar investment fraud scheme. King was found guilty on eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and three counts of filing false tax returns following jury deliberation in late 2025.
The fraudulent enterprise operated under the name Halcyon, a purported real estate investment fund that solicited capital from 22 investors between August 2009 and December 2013. King's co-defendant, Paul Waln—her husband and now a Texas resident—initiated the scheme by presenting investors with representations that their pooled capital would finance the acquisition and renovation of an apartment building in West Seattle, with subsequent deployment into additional real estate projects. Investors were promised a 20% annualized return contingent on a 10-year capital commitment period, while Waln retained a 1% management fee. The fund ultimately accumulated $2.25 million in investor capital.
Following King and Waln's marriage in 2013, the couple assumed joint management of the fund. From February 2014 through December 2018, the two systematically misappropriated investor assets by transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars in tranches from the fund to an entity they controlled, subsequently routing these proceeds to King's personal accounts to finance undisclosed personal expenditures. No legitimate real estate acquisitions or investor distributions materialized during this period.
Waln separately pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on October 31, 2025. King's conviction—secured without a guilty plea—carries more severe sentencing exposure under federal sentencing guidelines for wire fraud and money laundering offenses. The case underscores persistent vulnerabilities in real estate investment fund oversight and the absence of adequate investor protections when capital is pooled under broker management without institutional-grade custody or redemption safeguards.
The fraudulent enterprise operated under the name Halcyon, a purported real estate investment fund that solicited capital from 22 investors between August 2009 and December 2013. King's co-defendant, Paul Waln—her husband and now a Texas resident—initiated the scheme by presenting investors with representations that their pooled capital would finance the acquisition and renovation of an apartment building in West Seattle, with subsequent deployment into additional real estate projects. Investors were promised a 20% annualized return contingent on a 10-year capital commitment period, while Waln retained a 1% management fee. The fund ultimately accumulated $2.25 million in investor capital.
Following King and Waln's marriage in 2013, the couple assumed joint management of the fund. From February 2014 through December 2018, the two systematically misappropriated investor assets by transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars in tranches from the fund to an entity they controlled, subsequently routing these proceeds to King's personal accounts to finance undisclosed personal expenditures. No legitimate real estate acquisitions or investor distributions materialized during this period.
Waln separately pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on October 31, 2025. King's conviction—secured without a guilty plea—carries more severe sentencing exposure under federal sentencing guidelines for wire fraud and money laundering offenses. The case underscores persistent vulnerabilities in real estate investment fund oversight and the absence of adequate investor protections when capital is pooled under broker management without institutional-grade custody or redemption safeguards.
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