Key Takeaways
- • Tamara King, 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, Western District of Washington.
- • King and her co-defendant Paul Waln solicited $2.25 million from 22 victims (primarily Seattle residents) between August 2009 and December 2013 for a real estate investment fund called Halcyon, promising a 20% annual return and a 10-year holding period for apartment building renovation and subsequent real estate projects in West Seattle.
- • Between February 2014 and December 2018, King and Waln conspired to misappropriate investor funds by secretly transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the Halcyon fund to their management company and then to King's personal accounts for personal expenses.
- • Waln pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and received a 33-month prison sentence on October 31, 2025; King was sentenced to 55 months in prison on the conviction date announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
- • The scheme represents a significant breach of fiduciary duty in real estate fund management, with institutional and individual investors losing capital through coordinated misappropriation by licensed real estate professionals.
Summary
Tamara King, a former real estate broker who previously operated in Bellevue and Kirkland, Washington and now resides in Ohio, was convicted following an 8-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The conviction included eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and three counts of filing false tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.
King and her co-defendant Paul Waln (now residing in Texas) operated an investment scheme centered on a real estate fund called Halcyon. Between August 2009 and December 2013, Waln solicited investments from 22 victims, predominantly Seattle-area residents, raising $2.25 million in total capital. Investors were presented with a structured investment proposition: funds would be pooled to purchase and renovate an apartment building in West Seattle, with subsequent deployment toward additional real estate projects. The promised terms included a 10-year investment lockup period, estimated 20% annual returns to investors, and a 1% management fee for Waln.
The fraud materialized after King and Waln married in 2013 and jointly assumed management of the Halcyon fund. Between February 2014 and December 2018, the pair systematically misappropriated investor capital by transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the fund to their management company, subsequently routing the proceeds to King's personal accounts for personal expenses. This coordinated scheme violated fundamental fiduciary obligations owed to the fund's investors.
Waln pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and received a 33-month federal prison sentence on October 31, 2025. King received a 55-month sentence. The case underscores the vulnerability of real estate investment funds to insider fraud and the regulatory enforcement mechanisms deployed by federal prosecutors to address breaches of investor trust by licensed real estate professionals managing pooled capital.
King and her co-defendant Paul Waln (now residing in Texas) operated an investment scheme centered on a real estate fund called Halcyon. Between August 2009 and December 2013, Waln solicited investments from 22 victims, predominantly Seattle-area residents, raising $2.25 million in total capital. Investors were presented with a structured investment proposition: funds would be pooled to purchase and renovate an apartment building in West Seattle, with subsequent deployment toward additional real estate projects. The promised terms included a 10-year investment lockup period, estimated 20% annual returns to investors, and a 1% management fee for Waln.
The fraud materialized after King and Waln married in 2013 and jointly assumed management of the Halcyon fund. Between February 2014 and December 2018, the pair systematically misappropriated investor capital by transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the fund to their management company, subsequently routing the proceeds to King's personal accounts for personal expenses. This coordinated scheme violated fundamental fiduciary obligations owed to the fund's investors.
Waln pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and received a 33-month federal prison sentence on October 31, 2025. King received a 55-month sentence. The case underscores the vulnerability of real estate investment funds to insider fraud and the regulatory enforcement mechanisms deployed by federal prosecutors to address breaches of investor trust by licensed real estate professionals managing pooled capital.
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