A former real estate professional who ran a fraudulent investment fund along with her ex-husband was sentenced to 55 months in prison Friday after a jury convicted her of wire fraud, money laundering and tax fraud in a scheme that stole more than $2 million from 22 victims, most of them Seattle residents.
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Tamara King, formerly Tamara Waln, is currently living in Ohio but was a real estate agent serving Bellevue and Kirkland, markets in Washington State, when she met and married Paul Waln. He ran a real estate fund called Halcyon between August 2009 and December 2013. During that time, Waln convinced victims to invest $2.25 million so that he could pool their investments to purchase and renovate a West Seattle apartment building, among other real estate projects.
Investors in the fund were required to leave their money in the pool for 10 years, at which point Paul Waln said they would receive both their principal and an estimated 20 percent annual return on their investment, minus his 1 percent management fee.
After marrying King, the two jointly managed the fund, conspiring to misappropriate money while characterizing withdrawals as “loans.” However, the money was not repaid and investors were never notified about the loans, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
When the investment funds were due to be distributed in 2019, King told investors that the venture had failed and all of the money was gone. Attorneys assert that King spent investor funds on an 8.5 carat diamond ring and a $120,000 Tesla, among other purchases.
“She blindly drained every last dollar,” Assistant United States Attorney Cindy Chang told jurors.
According to My Northwest, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said that King, who blamed Waln for the misappropriation during her trial, refused to take accountability.
“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.
Waln, who now lives in Texas, was sentenced to 33 months in prison in October after pleading guilty to the wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said, “This defendant stole from those who invested not just their money, but their dreams of a secure retirement. 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.”
