A former Eastside real estate broker was sentenced to 55 months in prison on Friday for a scheme that stole more than $2 million from 22 victims, most of whom were Seattle residents.
Tamara King, also known as Tamara Waln, who now lives in Ohio but previously lived in Bellevue and Kirkland, was convicted of eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and three counts of filing a false tax return after an 8-day jury trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced in a news release.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said that King had refused to take accountability for her actions.
“King testified falsely, she deliberately lied on the witness stand … She was the primary instigator of this fraud … for the most base motivation of all: pure greed,” Judge Martinez said.
West Seattle apartment pitch promised 20% return, drew in 22 investors
King’s co-defendant, Paul Waln, who now lives in Texas, pleaded guilty to the wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and was sentenced to 33 months in prison on October 31, 2025.
Waln solicited investments in a real estate fund called Halcyon between August 2009 and December 2013, convincing 22 victims to invest $2.25 million in the fund, according to records filed in the case.
Waln told investors their funds would be pooled to purchase and renovate an apartment building in West Seattle and then used for other real estate projects.
“For a decade, investors thought they were prudently saving their hard-earned money for retirement through a real estate fund operated by King and her husband,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “Instead, Ms. King drained the account to fund her lavish lifestyle. The FBI and our partners will carefully follow the money to ensure fraudsters are held accountable for their greed and the damage it causes.”
Investors were required to leave their money in the investment pool for 10 years and were told Waln would return the investment principal and earnings, which he estimated to be a 20% annual return. He was entitled to receive a 1% fee for managing the investment fund.
“In 2013, Waln married King, who was also a real estate agent. Waln and King then jointly managed the investment fund,” the attorney’s office stated in the news release.
Couple conspired to misappropriate money in real estate scheme
Between February 2014 and December 2018, the couple conspired to misappropriate money from the fund to pay for personal expenses.
“The pair secretly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the fund to their management company and then transferred the money to King’s personal accounts,” the attorney’s office stated. “In some instances, they wrote secret memos characterizing these transfers as ‘loans,’ but the money was never repaid. Investors were never told about the ‘loans.’”
Waln and King were required to distribute the investment funds to investors in 2019, under the terms of the investment, but by 2018, they had misappropriated all the money.
In December 2018, Waln sent investors a letter falsely claiming the fund’s general contractor had been diagnosed with cancer.
“Waln told investors that this would result in a two-to-three-year delay before he would be able to return investors’ money. The contractor in question never had a cancer diagnosis,” the attorney’s office stated.
In October 2019, King told investors the money was gone, and the investment had failed.
Former Eastside real estate broker failed to report over $1.6 million in income
King also failed to report more than $1.6 million in income over three tax years.
At the trial, King blamed Waln for the misappropriation, claiming Waln told her the “loans” were allowed. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Wilkinson told the jurors the couple acted as a team.
“[Waln] brought the money in the front door, and King stole it out the back. She took $50,000 for an 8 and a half carat diamond ring and more than $120,000 for her Tesla,” he said.
Prosecutors also noted King transferred investor money to accounts she controlled. In total, investors lost $2.4 million.
“This defendant stole from those who invested not just their money, but their dreams of a secure retirement,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. “To this day, she tries to blame others for her conduct that resulted in convictions for 14 federal felonies. This significant prison time should send a message to other fraudsters that we will investigate and hold defendants accountable.”
Contributing: Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest
This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
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